$100 in 1937 is worth $1,775 in 2019,
because prices increased 1675.4% over that period, an average of
3.57% a year.
$100 in 1937 has
the same buying power as
$1,775
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1675.4%
Average inflation rate
3.57% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,775
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,675
CPI in 1937
14.4
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 1937
3.60%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 1937 → 2019
$1,775
$100 in 2019 → 1937
$5.63
What happened to prices between 1937 and 2019
Between 1937 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 14.4 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1675.4%, which works out to an average of
3.57% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1937 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2019: the 1937 dollar
lost 94.4% of its purchasing power over
these 82 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 2019 at the same ratio, 17.75: $1,000 becomes
$17,754, and $10,000 becomes $177,540.
Amount in 1937
Value in 2019
$1.00
$17.75
$5.00
$88.77
$10.00
$178
$20.00
$355
$50.00
$888
$100
$1,775
$500
$8,877
$1,000
$17,754
$5,000
$88,770
$10,000
$177,540
$100,000
$1,775,396
$1,000,000
$17,753,958
Inflation by spending category, 1937–2019
Between 1937 and 2019, medical care rose the most, up 4739.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 463.9%, against 1675.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1937
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1937 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.57%
$1,775
Medical care
4.84%
$4,839
Food
3.70%
$1,972
Transportation
3.31%
$1,449
Apparel
2.13%
$564
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 2019
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 1937–2019 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
2010–2019
1.78%
17.2%
$1,775
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1937
$100 from 1937 had already become $421 by
1977, on its way to $1,775 in 2019; 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: 2019
In 2019, prices rose 1.8% and $100 from 1937 had the buying
power of $1,775; the year's average CPI of 255.657 is the level
behind every 2019 figure on this page.
2019 was the last ordinary year before COVID-19. Consumer prices rose 1.8%,
slightly under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with gasoline averaging
$2.60 a gallon. Median household income jumped to $68,703, the highest on
record up to that point, and the median new home sold for about $328,000. A
first-class stamp rose to 55 cents.
The Fed reversed course. After four increases in 2018, it cut rates three
times, to 1.50–1.75%, citing slower global growth, trade tensions, and low
inflation. In July the expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in
U.S. records, and in August the yield curve briefly inverted, a signal
investors read as a recession warning.
For workers at the bottom of the pay scale, 2019 marked a milestone of a
different kind. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and reached its tenth
year without an increase, the longest gap since the wage was first set. Because
prices had climbed about 19% since it was last raised in 2009, its buying power
was lower than at any point in that span.
MLA: “Inflation from 1937 to 2019: $100 is worth $1,775 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1937 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1937-to-2019/