$100 in 1935 is worth $1,172 in 1997,
because prices increased 1071.5% over that period, an average of
4.05% a year.
$100 in 1935 has
the same buying power as
$1,172
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1071.5%
Average inflation rate
4.05% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,172
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,072
CPI in 1935
13.7
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1935
2.24%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1935 → 1997
$1,172
$100 in 1997 → 1935
$8.54
What happened to prices between 1935 and 1997
Between 1935 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1071.5%, which works out to an average of
4.05% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1935 bought what
$0.09 buys in 1997: the 1935 dollar
lost 91.5% of its purchasing power over
these 62 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 1997 at the same ratio, 11.72: $1,000 becomes
$11,715, and $10,000 becomes $117,153.
Amount in 1935
Value in 1997
$1.00
$11.72
$5.00
$58.58
$10.00
$117
$20.00
$234
$50.00
$586
$100
$1,172
$500
$5,858
$1,000
$11,715
$5,000
$58,577
$10,000
$117,153
$100,000
$1,171,533
$1,000,000
$11,715,328
Inflation by spending category, 1935–1997
Between 1935 and 1997, medical care rose the most, up 2200.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 538.9%, against 1071.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1935
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1935 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.05%
$1,172
Medical care
5.19%
$2,300
Food
4.18%
$1,269
Transportation
3.81%
$1,016
Apparel
3.04%
$639
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 1997
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1930s (0.43% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1935–1997 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
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$283
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$601
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$954
1990–1997
2.98%
22.8%
$1,172
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1935
$100 from 1935 had already become $230 by
1965, on its way to $1,172 in 1997; 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 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1997
In 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1935 had the buying
power of $1,172; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1935 to 1997: $100 is worth $1,172 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1935-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1935 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1935-to-1997/