$100 in 1950 is worth $129 in 1964,
because prices increased 28.6% over that period, an average of
1.81% a year.
$100 in 1950 has
the same buying power as
$129
in 1964
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
28.6%
Average inflation rate
1.81% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$129
Price difference ($100 base)
$28.63
CPI in 1950
24.1
CPI in 1964
31
Inflation in 1950
1.26%
Inflation in 1964
1.31%
$100 in 1950 → 1964
$129
$100 in 1964 → 1950
$77.74
What happened to prices between 1950 and 1964
Between 1950 and 1964, the Consumer Price Index went from 24.1 to 31.
Cumulatively, prices increased 28.6%, which works out to an average of
1.81% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1950 bought what
$0.78 buys in 1964: the 1950 dollar
lost 22.3% of its purchasing power over
these 14 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 1964 at the same ratio, 1.29: $1,000 becomes
$1,286, and $10,000 becomes $12,863.
Amount in 1950
Value in 1964
$1.00
$1.29
$5.00
$6.43
$10.00
$12.86
$20.00
$25.73
$50.00
$64.32
$100
$129
$500
$643
$1,000
$1,286
$5,000
$6,432
$10,000
$12,863
$100,000
$128,631
$1,000,000
$1,286,307
Inflation by spending category, 1950–1964
Between 1950 and 1964, medical care rose the most, up 62.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 17.4%, against 28.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1950
spending costs in 1964, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1950 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.81%
$129
Medical care
3.55%
$163
Transportation
2.34%
$138
Food
1.55%
$124
Apparel
1.15%
$117
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–).
Decade by decade: 1950 to 1964
Prices climbed fastest in the 1950s, averaging 2.08% a year, and slowest in the 1960s (1.16% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1950–1964 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1950, at end
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$123
1960–1964
1.16%
4.7%
$129
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1950
$100 from 1950 had already become $117 by
1957, on its way to $129 in 1964; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 7.9% in 1951, and prices fell 0.4% in 1955, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 1964, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1950 had the buying
power of $129; the year's average CPI of 31 is the level
behind every 1964 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 1.3% in 1964, matching 1963’s pace
even as a large federal tax cut took effect that year. The Revenue Act of
1964, signed February 26, lowered individual and corporate tax rates
significantly, the cut Kennedy had proposed the year before his death and
Johnson pushed through Congress as a Keynesian bet that lower taxes would
spur enough growth without stoking prices. Congress reshaped civil rights
law that July 2, when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination
based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin in employment
and public accommodations, the most sweeping civil rights legislation
since Reconstruction. Vietnam policy shifted that August, when Congress
passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution after reported attacks on U.S. Navy
destroyers, authorizing Johnson to use military force in Vietnam without
a formal declaration of war. American pop culture changed that February
too: the Beatles landed at New York’s Kennedy Airport and played the Ed
Sullivan Show two days later for an estimated 73 million viewers,
igniting the “British Invasion.” Consumer prices finished 1964 213.1%
above their 1913 level. First-class postage held at 5
cents, and the minimum wage stayed at $1.25 an hour.
MLA: “Inflation from 1950 to 1964: $100 is worth $129 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1964/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1950 to 1964. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1964/