$100 in 1937 is worth $789 in 1987,
because prices increased 688.9% over that period, an average of
4.22% a year.
$100 in 1937 has
the same buying power as
$789
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
688.9%
Average inflation rate
4.22% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$789
Price difference ($100 base)
$689
CPI in 1937
14.4
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1937
3.60%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1937 → 1987
$789
$100 in 1987 → 1937
$12.68
What happened to prices between 1937 and 1987
Between 1937 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 14.4 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 688.9%, which works out to an average of
4.22% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1937 bought what
$0.13 buys in 1987: the 1937 dollar
lost 87.3% of its purchasing power over
these 50 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 1987 at the same ratio, 7.89: $1,000 becomes
$7,889, and $10,000 becomes $78,889.
Amount in 1937
Value in 1987
$1.00
$7.89
$5.00
$39.44
$10.00
$78.89
$20.00
$158
$50.00
$394
$100
$789
$500
$3,944
$1,000
$7,889
$5,000
$39,444
$10,000
$78,889
$100,000
$788,889
$1,000,000
$7,888,889
Inflation by spending category, 1937–1987
Between 1937 and 1987, medical care rose the most, up 1163.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 402.7%, against 688.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1937
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1937 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.22%
$789
Medical care
5.20%
$1,263
Food
4.41%
$866
Transportation
4.05%
$727
Apparel
3.28%
$503
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 1987
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 1937–1987 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
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$789
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1937
$100 from 1937 had already become $208 by
1961, on its way to $789 in 1987; 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: 1987
In 1987, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1937 had the buying
power of $789; the year's average CPI of 113.6 is the level
behind every 1987 figure on this page.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
MLA: “Inflation from 1937 to 1987: $100 is worth $789 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1937 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-1987/