$100 in 1937 is worth $572 in 1980,
because prices increased 472.2% over that period, an average of
4.14% a year.
$100 in 1937 has
the same buying power as
$572
in 1980
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
472.2%
Average inflation rate
4.14% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$572
Price difference ($100 base)
$472
CPI in 1937
14.4
CPI in 1980
82.4
Inflation in 1937
3.60%
Inflation in 1980
13.50%
$100 in 1937 → 1980
$572
$100 in 1980 → 1937
$17.48
What happened to prices between 1937 and 1980
Between 1937 and 1980, the Consumer Price Index went from 14.4 to 82.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 472.2%, which works out to an average of
4.14% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1937 bought what
$0.17 buys in 1980: the 1937 dollar
lost 82.5% of its purchasing power over
these 43 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 1980 at the same ratio, 5.72: $1,000 becomes
$5,722, and $10,000 becomes $57,222.
Amount in 1937
Value in 1980
$1.00
$5.72
$5.00
$28.61
$10.00
$57.22
$20.00
$114
$50.00
$286
$100
$572
$500
$2,861
$1,000
$5,722
$5,000
$28,611
$10,000
$57,222
$100,000
$572,222
$1,000,000
$5,722,222
Inflation by spending category, 1937–1980
Between 1937 and 1980, medical care rose the most, up 627.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 313.2%, against 472.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1937
spending costs in 1980, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1937 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.14%
$572
Medical care
4.72%
$727
Food
4.50%
$663
Transportation
4.14%
$573
Apparel
3.35%
$413
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 1980
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and fell in the 1930s (0.9% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1937–1980 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
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$572
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1937
$100 from 1937 had already become $202 by
1959, on its way to $572 in 1980; 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: 1980
In 1980, prices rose 13.5% and $100 from 1937 had the buying
power of $572; the year's average CPI of 82.4 is the level
behind every 1980 figure on this page.
1980 sat at the very peak of the Great Inflation. Prices rose 13.5% in that
single year, mortgage rates were climbing toward 16%, and the Federal Reserve
under Paul Volcker was administering the painful interest-rate medicine that
would finally break the inflationary spiral, at the cost of the deep 1981–82
recession. No single year looms larger in how Americans think about inflation.
MLA: “Inflation from 1937 to 1980: $100 is worth $572 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-1980/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1937 to 1980. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-1980/