$100 in 1935 is worth $236 in 1966,
because prices increased 136.5% over that period, an average of
2.82% a year.
$100 in 1935 has
the same buying power as
$236
in 1966
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
136.5%
Average inflation rate
2.82% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$236
Price difference ($100 base)
$136
CPI in 1935
13.7
CPI in 1966
32.4
Inflation in 1935
2.24%
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
$100 in 1935 → 1966
$236
$100 in 1966 → 1935
$42.28
What happened to prices between 1935 and 1966
Between 1935 and 1966, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 32.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 136.5%, which works out to an average of
2.82% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1935 bought what
$0.42 buys in 1966: the 1935 dollar
lost 57.7% of its purchasing power over
these 31 years.
Consumer prices rose 2.2% in 1935, a second straight annual increase after
1934’s turnaround, though the CPI still sat well below its
1929 peak and the recovery remained uneven and incomplete.
The year’s biggest legislative achievements aimed at making that unevenness
less punishing. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act on August 14,
creating federal old-age pensions and unemployment insurance funded by a new
payroll tax, the first federal safety net of its kind in U.S. history. That
spring, the Works Progress Administration had already begun putting millions
of unemployed Americans to work on public construction, arts, and
infrastructure projects, becoming the largest jobs program of the New Deal.
Congress added labor protections to the mix that July with the National
Labor Relations Act, guaranteeing most private-sector workers the right to
organize and bargain collectively. The human cost of the Dust Bowl was still
mounting on the Plains: the storm known as Black Sunday hit on April 14,
one of the worst of the decade, and continued drought kept driving farm
families off land that could no longer support them. Consumer prices ended
the year 38.4% above their 1913 level. First-class postage
held at 3 cents.
Every 1935 amount converts to 1966 at the same ratio, 2.36: $1,000 becomes
$2,365, and $10,000 becomes $23,650.
Amount in 1935
Value in 1966
$1.00
$2.36
$5.00
$11.82
$10.00
$23.65
$20.00
$47.30
$50.00
$118
$100
$236
$500
$1,182
$1,000
$2,365
$5,000
$11,825
$10,000
$23,650
$100,000
$236,496
$1,000,000
$2,364,964
Inflation by spending category, 1935–1966
Between 1935 and 1966, food rose the most, up 172.6%, while transportation rose the least, up 127.5%, against 136.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1935
spending costs in 1966, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1935 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.82%
$236
Food
3.29%
$273
Medical care
3.10%
$258
Apparel
2.80%
$236
Transportation
2.69%
$227
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1935: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1935 to 1966
Prices climbed fastest in the 1940s, averaging 5.58% a year, and slowest in the 1930s (0.43% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1935–1966 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1935, at end
1935–1940
0.43%
2.2%
$102
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$176
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$216
1960–1966
1.52%
9.5%
$236
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1935
$100 from 1935 had already become $190 by
1951, on its way to $236 in 1966; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 14.4% in 1947, and prices fell 2.1% in 1938, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1966
In 1966, prices rose 2.9% and $100 from 1935 had the buying
power of $236; the year's average CPI of 32.4 is the level
behind every 1966 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 2.9% in 1966, nearly double 1965’s
1.6% as Vietnam War spending kept climbing without an offsetting tax
increase, pushing the economy closer to capacity and prices higher along
with it. Medicare coverage took effect that July 1, extending federal
health insurance to roughly 19 million Americans age 65 and older under
the program signed into law the year before. The Federal Reserve had
already moved to cool the overheating economy, raising its discount rate
the previous December over White House objections; the tightening carried
into 1966 as the first postwar credit crunch, freezing parts of the
housing and municipal bond markets even as inflation kept climbing. Congress widened
the wage floor’s reach that September 23, when the Fair Labor Standards
Amendments of 1966 set a $1.40 minimum wage effective the following
February and extended coverage to roughly 9 million more workers in
retail, hospitals, schools, and other services not previously covered.
Consumer prices finished 1966 227.3% above their 1913
level. First-class postage held at 5 cents, and the minimum wage stayed at
$1.25 an hour for the rest of the year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1935 to 1966: $100 is worth $236 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1935-to-1966/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1935 to 1966. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1935-to-1966/