$100 in 1935 is worth $1,293 in 2001,
because prices increased 1192.7% over that period, an average of
3.95% a year.
$100 in 1935 has
the same buying power as
$1,293
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1192.7%
Average inflation rate
3.95% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,293
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,193
CPI in 1935
13.7
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1935
2.24%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1935 → 2001
$1,293
$100 in 2001 → 1935
$7.74
What happened to prices between 1935 and 2001
Between 1935 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1192.7%, which works out to an average of
3.95% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1935 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2001: the 1935 dollar
lost 92.3% of its purchasing power over
these 66 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 2001 at the same ratio, 12.93: $1,000 becomes
$12,927, and $10,000 becomes $129,270.
Amount in 1935
Value in 2001
$1.00
$12.93
$5.00
$64.64
$10.00
$129
$20.00
$259
$50.00
$646
$100
$1,293
$500
$6,464
$1,000
$12,927
$5,000
$64,635
$10,000
$129,270
$100,000
$1,292,701
$1,000,000
$12,927,007
Inflation by spending category, 1935–2001
Between 1935 and 2001, medical care rose the most, up 2574.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 512.0%, against 1192.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1935
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1935 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.95%
$1,293
Medical care
5.11%
$2,675
Food
4.08%
$1,396
Transportation
3.68%
$1,087
Apparel
2.78%
$612
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 2001
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 1935–2001 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
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$1,293
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1935
$100 from 1935 had already become $283 by
1970, on its way to $1,293 in 2001; 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: 2001
In 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1935 had the buying
power of $1,293; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1935 to 2001: $100 is worth $1,293 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1935-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1935 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1935-to-2001/