$100 in 1937 is worth $1,644 in 2014,
because prices increased 1544.0% over that period, an average of
3.70% a year.
$100 in 1937 has
the same buying power as
$1,644
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1544.0%
Average inflation rate
3.70% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,644
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,544
CPI in 1937
14.4
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1937
3.60%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1937 → 2014
$1,644
$100 in 2014 → 1937
$6.08
What happened to prices between 1937 and 2014
Between 1937 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 14.4 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1544.0%, which works out to an average of
3.70% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1937 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2014: the 1937 dollar
lost 93.9% of its purchasing power over
these 77 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 2014 at the same ratio, 16.44: $1,000 becomes
$16,440, and $10,000 becomes $164,400.
Amount in 1937
Value in 2014
$1.00
$16.44
$5.00
$82.20
$10.00
$164
$20.00
$329
$50.00
$822
$100
$1,644
$500
$8,220
$1,000
$16,440
$5,000
$82,200
$10,000
$164,400
$100,000
$1,644,000
$1,000,000
$16,440,000
Inflation by spending category, 1937–2014
Between 1937 and 2014, medical care rose the most, up 4126.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 479.6%, against 1544.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1937
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1937 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.70%
$1,644
Medical care
4.98%
$4,226
Food
3.86%
$1,853
Transportation
3.57%
$1,489
Apparel
2.31%
$580
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 2014
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 1937–2014 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,514
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$1,644
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1937
$100 from 1937 had already become $421 by
1977, on its way to $1,644 in 2014; 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: 2014
In 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1937 had the buying
power of $1,644; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1937 to 2014: $100 is worth $1,644 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1937 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-2014/