$100 in 1937 is worth $1,495 in 2008,
because prices increased 1395.2% over that period, an average of
3.88% a year.
$100 in 1937 has
the same buying power as
$1,495
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1395.2%
Average inflation rate
3.88% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,495
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,395
CPI in 1937
14.4
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1937
3.60%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1937 → 2008
$1,495
$100 in 2008 → 1937
$6.69
What happened to prices between 1937 and 2008
Between 1937 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 14.4 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1395.2%, which works out to an average of
3.88% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1937 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2008: the 1937 dollar
lost 93.3% of its purchasing power over
these 71 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 2008 at the same ratio, 14.95: $1,000 becomes
$14,952, and $10,000 becomes $149,516.
Amount in 1937
Value in 2008
$1.00
$14.95
$5.00
$74.76
$10.00
$150
$20.00
$299
$50.00
$748
$100
$1,495
$500
$7,476
$1,000
$14,952
$5,000
$74,758
$10,000
$149,516
$100,000
$1,495,160
$1,000,000
$14,951,597
Inflation by spending category, 1937–2008
Between 1937 and 2008, medical care rose the most, up 3434.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 440.5%, against 1395.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1937
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1937 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.88%
$1,495
Medical care
5.15%
$3,535
Food
4.01%
$1,634
Transportation
3.73%
$1,349
Apparel
2.40%
$540
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 2008
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 1937–2008 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
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$1,495
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1937
$100 from 1937 had already become $290 by
1972, on its way to $1,495 in 2008; 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: 2008
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1937 had the buying
power of $1,495; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1937 to 2008: $100 is worth $1,495 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1937 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-2008/