$100 in 1937 is worth $1,230 in 2001,
because prices increased 1129.9% over that period, an average of
4.00% a year.
$100 in 1937 has
the same buying power as
$1,230
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1129.9%
Average inflation rate
4.00% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,230
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,130
CPI in 1937
14.4
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1937
3.60%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1937 → 2001
$1,230
$100 in 2001 → 1937
$8.13
What happened to prices between 1937 and 2001
Between 1937 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 14.4 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1129.9%, which works out to an average of
4.00% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1937 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2001: the 1937 dollar
lost 91.9% of its purchasing power over
these 64 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 2001 at the same ratio, 12.30: $1,000 becomes
$12,299, and $10,000 becomes $122,986.
Amount in 1937
Value in 2001
$1.00
$12.30
$5.00
$61.49
$10.00
$123
$20.00
$246
$50.00
$615
$100
$1,230
$500
$6,149
$1,000
$12,299
$5,000
$61,493
$10,000
$122,986
$100,000
$1,229,861
$1,000,000
$12,298,611
Inflation by spending category, 1937–2001
Between 1937 and 2001, medical care rose the most, up 2548.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 478.6%, against 1129.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1937
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1937 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.00%
$1,230
Medical care
5.25%
$2,649
Food
4.12%
$1,321
Transportation
3.76%
$1,064
Apparel
2.78%
$579
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 2001
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 1937–2001 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$908
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$1,196
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$1,230
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1937
$100 from 1937 had already become $232 by
1967, on its way to $1,230 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 1937 had the buying
power of $1,230; 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 1937 to 2001: $100 is worth $1,230 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1937 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-2001/