$100 in 1950 is worth $108 in 1951,
because prices increased 7.9% over that period, an average of
7.88% a year.
$100 in 1950 has
the same buying power as
$108
in 1951
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
7.9%
Average inflation rate
7.88% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$108
Price difference ($100 base)
$7.88
CPI in 1950
24.1
CPI in 1951
26
Inflation in 1950
1.26%
Inflation in 1951
7.88%
$100 in 1950 → 1951
$108
$100 in 1951 → 1950
$92.69
What happened to prices between 1950 and 1951
Between 1950 and 1951, the Consumer Price Index went from 24.1 to 26.
Cumulatively, prices increased 7.9%, which works out to an average of
7.88% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1950 bought what
$0.93 buys in 1951: the 1950 dollar
lost 7.3% of its purchasing power over
these 1 years.
Consumer prices rose 1.3% in 1950, up from 1949’s 1.2%
decline, a mild gain that hid a sharp turn partway through the year. The
cost of living had been roughly flat through the spring, then jumped after
North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, setting off a wave of hoarding
and defense buying reminiscent of World War II shortages. The United
States entered the war within days under a United Nations mandate;
American and South Korean forces were pushed back to the Pusan Perimeter
that summer before a landing at Inchon that September reversed the front,
and China’s entry into the war that November turned it into a longer
stalemate. Congress moved to put the economy on a war footing that
September, passing the Defense Production Act, which gave the president
authority to direct industrial output toward the military and, if prices
kept climbing, to impose formal wage and price controls. Domestic policy
also expanded that year: the Social Security Amendments of 1950, signed
August 28, raised benefits across the board and extended coverage to
roughly 10 million more workers, the program’s first major expansion since
it began in 1935. Consumer prices finished 1950 143.4% above their
1913 level, matching 1948’s postwar high
after 1949’s brief decline. First-class postage held at 3 cents, and the
minimum wage stood at 75 cents an hour after January’s increase.
Every 1950 amount converts to 1951 at the same ratio, 1.08: $1,000 becomes
$1,079, and $10,000 becomes $10,788.
Amount in 1950
Value in 1951
$1.00
$1.08
$5.00
$5.39
$10.00
$10.79
$20.00
$21.58
$50.00
$53.94
$100
$108
$500
$539
$1,000
$1,079
$5,000
$5,394
$10,000
$10,788
$100,000
$107,884
$1,000,000
$1,078,838
Inflation by spending category, 1950–1951
Between 1950 and 1951, food rose the most, up 11.0%, while medical care rose the least, up 5.3%, against 7.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1950
spending costs in 1951, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1950 →
All items (CPI-U)
7.88%
$108
Food
11.02%
$111
Apparel
8.93%
$109
Transportation
6.17%
$106
Medical care
5.30%
$105
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1950: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1950
$100 from 1950grew to $108 by 1951; each row
shows the CPI, that year's inflation rate, and the running value.
In 1951, prices rose 7.9% and $100 from 1950 had the buying
power of $108; the year's average CPI of 26 is the level
behind every 1951 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 7.9% in 1951, up sharply from 1950’s
1.3% and the fastest increase since 1947, as Korean War buying and a
defense spending surge hit an economy still adjusting to peacetime. Much
of the jump came early in the year, before the government stepped in: the
Office of Price Stabilization imposed a general ceiling on prices January
26, and the Wage Stabilization Board froze wages soon after, the broadest
peacetime controls since the war began that June. The year’s more lasting
change came in monetary policy. On March 4, the Treasury and the Federal
Reserve signed the Accord, ending the Fed’s wartime obligation to hold
down interest rates on government bonds and freeing the central bank to
fight inflation on its own terms for the first time since 1942, a shift
that would shape Fed independence for decades. Congress raised taxes that
October to help pay for the war: the Revenue Act of 1951, signed October
20, lifted individual and corporate income taxes along with a range of
excise taxes, the third increase in taxes since fighting began in Korea.
Consumer prices finished 1951 162.6% above their 1913
level. First-class postage held at 3 cents, and the minimum wage stayed at
75 cents an hour.
MLA: “Inflation from 1950 to 1951: $100 is worth $108 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1951/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1950 to 1951. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1951/