$100 in 1935 is worth $1,572 in 2008,
because prices increased 1471.6% over that period, an average of
3.85% a year.
$100 in 1935 has
the same buying power as
$1,572
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1471.6%
Average inflation rate
3.85% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,572
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,472
CPI in 1935
13.7
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1935
2.24%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1935 → 2008
$1,572
$100 in 2008 → 1935
$6.36
What happened to prices between 1935 and 2008
Between 1935 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1471.6%, which works out to an average of
3.85% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1935 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2008: the 1935 dollar
lost 93.6% of its purchasing power over
these 73 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 2008 at the same ratio, 15.72: $1,000 becomes
$15,716, and $10,000 becomes $157,155.
Amount in 1935
Value in 2008
$1.00
$15.72
$5.00
$78.58
$10.00
$157
$20.00
$314
$50.00
$786
$100
$1,572
$500
$7,858
$1,000
$15,716
$5,000
$78,578
$10,000
$157,155
$100,000
$1,571,555
$1,000,000
$15,715,547
Inflation by spending category, 1935–2008
Between 1935 and 2008, medical care rose the most, up 3469.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 471.7%, against 1471.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1935
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1935 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.85%
$1,572
Medical care
5.02%
$3,569
Food
3.98%
$1,727
Transportation
3.66%
$1,377
Apparel
2.42%
$572
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 2008
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 1935–2008 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
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$1,572
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1935
$100 from 1935 had already become $283 by
1970, on its way to $1,572 in 2008; 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: 2008
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1935 had the buying
power of $1,572; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1935 to 2008: $100 is worth $1,572 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1935-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1935 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1935-to-2008/