$100 in 1937 is worth $342 in 1974,
because prices increased 242.4% over that period, an average of
3.38% a year.
$100 in 1937 has
the same buying power as
$342
in 1974
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
242.4%
Average inflation rate
3.38% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$342
Price difference ($100 base)
$242
CPI in 1937
14.4
CPI in 1974
49.3
Inflation in 1937
3.60%
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
$100 in 1937 → 1974
$342
$100 in 1974 → 1937
$29.21
What happened to prices between 1937 and 1974
Between 1937 and 1974, the Consumer Price Index went from 14.4 to 49.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 242.4%, which works out to an average of
3.38% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1937 bought what
$0.29 buys in 1974: the 1937 dollar
lost 70.8% of its purchasing power over
these 37 years.
Consumer prices rose 3.6% in 1937, the fastest pace since before the
Depression and the fourth straight year of gains, leaving prices 10.8% above
their 1933 trough though still 15.8% below the
1929 peak. The recovery did not last the year. The National
Bureau of Economic Research dates a new business cycle peak to that May, the
start of what became known as the Recession of 1937-38. Policy tightened on
two fronts at once: the Federal Reserve had doubled bank reserve
requirements over the preceding year to head off inflation it worried was
building, and the federal government pulled back its own spending even as
new Social Security payroll taxes began draining money from paychecks
months before the first benefit checks went out. Together they choked off a
recovery that had not yet reached its pre-Depression footing. Not every
milestone that year was economic. The Golden Gate Bridge opened to traffic
on May 27 after four years of construction, at the time the longest
suspension bridge span in the world, a rare bright spot in a year that would
end with the economy sliding backward again. First-class postage held at 3
cents.
Every 1937 amount converts to 1974 at the same ratio, 3.42: $1,000 becomes
$3,424, and $10,000 becomes $34,236.
Amount in 1937
Value in 1974
$1.00
$3.42
$5.00
$17.12
$10.00
$34.24
$20.00
$68.47
$50.00
$171
$100
$342
$500
$1,712
$1,000
$3,424
$5,000
$17,118
$10,000
$34,236
$100,000
$342,361
$1,000,000
$3,423,611
Inflation by spending category, 1937–1974
Between 1937 and 1974, food rose the most, up 320.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 215.5%, against 242.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1937
spending costs in 1974, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1937 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.38%
$342
Food
3.96%
$421
Medical care
3.90%
$412
Transportation
3.16%
$316
Apparel
3.15%
$315
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1937: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1937 to 1974
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.17% a year, and fell in the 1930s (0.9% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1937–1974 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1937, at end
1937–1940
-0.93%
-2.8%
$97.22
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$167
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$206
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$269
1970–1974
6.17%
27.1%
$342
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1937
$100 from 1937 had already become $186 by
1955, on its way to $342 in 1974; 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: 1974
In 1974, prices rose 11.0% and $100 from 1937 had the buying
power of $342; the year's average CPI of 49.3 is the level
behind every 1974 figure on this page.
1974 was the year the postwar economy broke its old rules. Consumer prices
rose 11.0%, the fastest annual increase since 1947, as the Arab oil embargo
that ran from October 1973 to March 1974 roughly quadrupled the price of
crude oil worldwide. Gasoline, which had averaged 38.5 cents a gallon in
1973, jumped to 53.2 cents, and shortages forced many states into odd-even
rationing at the pump. Nixon’s wage and price controls, in place in some form
since 1971, expired at the end of April, removing the last brake on prices
just as the oil shock hit. Nixon himself resigned in August over Watergate,
and Gerald Ford’s response to inflation, a voluntary “Whip Inflation Now”
campaign built around lapel buttons, became a symbol of how little
conventional politics could do against the problem. Prices kept climbing even
as the economy weakened: a recession that started in November 1973 dragged
on, the Dow fell to a bear-market bottom of 577.60 in December, and
unemployment was already rising toward the 9% it would reach in 1975. The
combination of rising prices and a shrinking economy gave the decade its
name: stagflation.
MLA: “Inflation from 1937 to 1974: $100 is worth $342 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-1974/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1937 to 1974. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-1974/