$100 in 1937 is worth $1,440 in 2007,
because prices increased 1339.9% over that period, an average of
3.88% a year.
$100 in 1937 has
the same buying power as
$1,440
in 2007
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1339.9%
Average inflation rate
3.88% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,440
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,340
CPI in 1937
14.4
CPI in 2007
207.342
Inflation in 1937
3.60%
Inflation in 2007
2.85%
$100 in 1937 → 2007
$1,440
$100 in 2007 → 1937
$6.95
What happened to prices between 1937 and 2007
Between 1937 and 2007, the Consumer Price Index went from 14.4 to 207.342.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1339.9%, which works out to an average of
3.88% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1937 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2007: the 1937 dollar
lost 93.1% of its purchasing power over
these 70 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 2007 at the same ratio, 14.40: $1,000 becomes
$14,399, and $10,000 becomes $143,988.
Amount in 1937
Value in 2007
$1.00
$14.40
$5.00
$71.99
$10.00
$144
$20.00
$288
$50.00
$720
$100
$1,440
$500
$7,199
$1,000
$14,399
$5,000
$71,994
$10,000
$143,988
$100,000
$1,439,875
$1,000,000
$14,398,750
Inflation by spending category, 1937–2007
Between 1937 and 2007, medical care rose the most, up 3308.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 440.9%, against 1339.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1937
spending costs in 2007, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1937 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.88%
$1,440
Medical care
5.17%
$3,408
Food
3.99%
$1,549
Transportation
3.70%
$1,274
Apparel
2.44%
$541
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 2007
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 1937–2007 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
2000–2007
2.69%
20.4%
$1,440
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1937
$100 from 1937 had already become $290 by
1972, on its way to $1,440 in 2007; 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: 2007
In 2007, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1937 had the buying
power of $1,440; the year's average CPI of 207.342 is the level
behind every 2007 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.8% in 2007, with gasoline averaging $2.80 a gallon, but the year is better
known for what began underneath prices. In August, French bank BNP Paribas froze funds tied to
U.S. subprime mortgages, and credit between banks tightened. The Federal Reserve responded with
a half-point cut on September 18, its first in four years, and took the policy rate from 5.25% to
4.25% by December. The economy peaked that month, by the National Bureau of Economic Research’s
dating, and the Great Recession followed. The median household earned about $50,200, and the
median new home cost $247,900. Congress ended the decade-long freeze on the federal minimum wage
in May, with the first of three steps to $5.85 in July. A first-class stamp cost 41 cents.
MLA: “Inflation from 1937 to 2007: $100 is worth $1,440 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-2007/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1937 to 2007. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-2007/