$100 in 1935 is worth $1,257 in 2000,
because prices increased 1156.9% over that period, an average of
3.97% a year.
$100 in 1935 has
the same buying power as
$1,257
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1156.9%
Average inflation rate
3.97% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,257
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,157
CPI in 1935
13.7
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1935
2.24%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1935 → 2000
$1,257
$100 in 2000 → 1935
$7.96
What happened to prices between 1935 and 2000
Between 1935 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1156.9%, which works out to an average of
3.97% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1935 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2000: the 1935 dollar
lost 92.0% of its purchasing power over
these 65 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 2000 at the same ratio, 12.57: $1,000 becomes
$12,569, and $10,000 becomes $125,693.
Amount in 1935
Value in 2000
$1.00
$12.57
$5.00
$62.85
$10.00
$126
$20.00
$251
$50.00
$628
$100
$1,257
$500
$6,285
$1,000
$12,569
$5,000
$62,847
$10,000
$125,693
$100,000
$1,256,934
$1,000,000
$12,569,343
Inflation by spending category, 1935–2000
Between 1935 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 2456.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 523.1%, against 1156.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1935
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1935 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.97%
$1,257
Medical care
5.11%
$2,557
Food
4.09%
$1,353
Transportation
3.73%
$1,080
Apparel
2.85%
$623
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 2000
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 1935–2000 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$1,257
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1935
$100 from 1935 had already become $230 by
1965, on its way to $1,257 in 2000; 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: 2000
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1935 had the buying
power of $1,257; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1935 to 2000: $100 is worth $1,257 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1935-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1935 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1935-to-2000/