Value of $500 in 1938 in today's dollars?

Question

I am trying to figure out how much a $500 donation given to my college in 1938 is worth in today's dollars. It sounds like a lot of money for back then, but we are unsure how much it would be equivalent to today.

I appreciate the help - serious answers only, please. Tell me how you came to your answer so I can pass it along to my office staff.

Answer 1

Unfortunately, that depends on how you choose to measure the value. Relative purchasing power based upon the Consumer Price Index is probably one you will find the most useful (create a ratio between current and historic CPI and multiply by original dollar amount).

Check out the calculator at:
http://www.measuringworth.com/ppowerus/

According to this calculator $500 in 1938 would have equivalent purchasing power to $7,154.01 in 2006.

Note that they also have a calculator that will compare several other potential ways to calculate current value, as well as a table generator for listing out the CPI for a range of years:
http://www.measuringworth.com/uscpi/
so you can do the calculations by hand or code it into spreadsheet.

Answer 2

While it is true that the 1938 dollar is worth some fifteen 2015 dollars their are other issues to determine value. For example radios are far cheaper today and of much better technology than 1938. It would be difficult to make a comparison. This might be said of much other domestic technology, I..e. refrigerators, automobiles, vacuum cleaners; many items. Housing is more expensive due to larger cities and added safety requirements. Again, it would be difficult to make a comparison. Travel is far cheaper in real terms. The list is endless. No way to make a comparison. Perhaps in food.

Answer 3

This site http://oregonstate.edu/cla/polisci/faculty/sahr/sahr.htm
from Oregon State University will convert the purchasing power of the dollar 2006 dollars (or other year dollar) to any year from 1665 to Estimated 2017.
Click on the link near the center and download the conversiion factor.

I hope this is what you were after.

Answer 4

I thought " never" even more than 500,000 dollars. we are all entitled to life since birth not only humans even animals are having right to live as animal cruelty is being learn to preserve and practice for the next generation. And all of the above requirements are act of cruelty wonder how this person live life each day and take a good night sleep without his feelings of guiltiness for doing so.

Answer 5

About $5.500 Think of the prices in 1938 for any product, then figure what they cost now Multiply $500 by the number of times that they increased in price. Your answer.

Answer 6

$500-- The purchasing power is very much a fact that it was a lot of $$ at that time but the amount remains the same

Answer 7

I asked my Grandfather and he said that kind of money to HIM would of been around $10,000 to $15,000 today. This is only HIS opinion but who better to ask than someone who lived within it.

: )