$100 in 1948 is worth $967 in 2013,
because prices increased 866.6% over that period, an average of
3.55% a year.
$100 in 1948 has
the same buying power as
$967
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
866.6%
Average inflation rate
3.55% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$967
Price difference ($100 base)
$867
CPI in 1948
24.1
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1948
8.07%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1948 → 2013
$967
$100 in 2013 → 1948
$10.35
What happened to prices between 1948 and 2013
Between 1948 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 24.1 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 866.6%, which works out to an average of
3.55% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1948 bought what
$0.10 buys in 2013: the 1948 dollar
lost 89.7% of its purchasing power over
these 65 years.
Consumer prices rose 8.1% in 1948, down slightly from 1947’s
14.4% but still the second straight year of sharp postwar inflation now
that wartime price controls were fully gone. Congress moved to stabilize a
different economy that April, passing the Economic Cooperation Act to fund
the plan Secretary of State George Marshall had proposed the year before:
more than $13 billion over four years to rebuild Western Europe and counter
Soviet influence. The Cold War turned tense closer to the plan’s target
that June, when Soviet forces cut off road and rail access to the
Western-controlled sectors of Berlin. American and British aircraft
responded almost immediately with an airlift of food, fuel, and supplies
that would keep the city running for nearly a year. Domestic politics
produced its own upset that November: nearly every poll and pundit had
predicted a Republican win, but Harry Truman defeated New York Governor
Thomas Dewey, handing the Chicago Tribune its famously wrong “Dewey Defeats
Truman” headline. Consumer prices finished the year 143.4% above their
1913 level and 40.9% above 1929’s
pre-Depression peak. First-class postage held at 3 cents, and the minimum
wage stayed at 40 cents an hour.
Every 1948 amount converts to 2013 at the same ratio, 9.67: $1,000 becomes
$9,666, and $10,000 becomes $96,663.
Amount in 1948
Value in 2013
$1.00
$9.67
$5.00
$48.33
$10.00
$96.66
$20.00
$193
$50.00
$483
$100
$967
$500
$4,833
$1,000
$9,666
$5,000
$48,331
$10,000
$96,663
$100,000
$966,627
$1,000,000
$9,666,266
Inflation by spending category, 1948–2013
Between 1948 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 2852.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 199.8%, against 866.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1948
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1948 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.55%
$967
Medical care
5.35%
$2,952
Transportation
3.69%
$1,055
Food
3.45%
$908
Apparel
1.70%
$300
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1948: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1948 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1940s (0.00% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1948–2013 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1948, at end
1948–1950
0.00%
0.0%
$100
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$123
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$161
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$342
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$542
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$715
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$905
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$967
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1948
$100 from 1948 had already become $271 by
1978, on its way to $967 in 2013; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 13.5% in 1980, and prices fell 1.2% in 1949, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1948 had the buying
power of $967; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1948 to 2013: $100 is worth $967 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1948-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1948 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1948-to-2013/