$100 in 1937 is worth $1,702 in 2017,
because prices increased 1602.2% over that period, an average of
3.61% a year.
$100 in 1937 has
the same buying power as
$1,702
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1602.2%
Average inflation rate
3.61% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,702
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,602
CPI in 1937
14.4
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 1937
3.60%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 1937 → 2017
$1,702
$100 in 2017 → 1937
$5.87
What happened to prices between 1937 and 2017
Between 1937 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 14.4 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1602.2%, which works out to an average of
3.61% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1937 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2017: the 1937 dollar
lost 94.1% of its purchasing power over
these 80 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 2017 at the same ratio, 17.02: $1,000 becomes
$17,022, and $10,000 becomes $170,222.
Amount in 1937
Value in 2017
$1.00
$17.02
$5.00
$85.11
$10.00
$170
$20.00
$340
$50.00
$851
$100
$1,702
$500
$8,511
$1,000
$17,022
$5,000
$85,111
$10,000
$170,222
$100,000
$1,702,222
$1,000,000
$17,022,222
Inflation by spending category, 1937–2017
Between 1937 and 2017, medical care rose the most, up 4514.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 471.0%, against 1602.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1937
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1937 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.61%
$1,702
Medical care
4.91%
$4,615
Food
3.76%
$1,909
Transportation
3.34%
$1,390
Apparel
2.20%
$571
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 2017
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 1937–2017 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
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$1,702
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1937
$100 from 1937 had already become $421 by
1977, on its way to $1,702 in 2017; 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: 2017
In 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1937 had the buying
power of $1,702; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1937 to 2017: $100 is worth $1,702 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1937 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-2017/