$100 in 1950 is worth $134 in 1966,
because prices increased 34.4% over that period, an average of
1.87% a year.
$100 in 1950 has
the same buying power as
$134
in 1966
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
34.4%
Average inflation rate
1.87% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$134
Price difference ($100 base)
$34.44
CPI in 1950
24.1
CPI in 1966
32.4
Inflation in 1950
1.26%
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
$100 in 1950 → 1966
$134
$100 in 1966 → 1950
$74.38
What happened to prices between 1950 and 1966
Between 1950 and 1966, the Consumer Price Index went from 24.1 to 32.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 34.4%, which works out to an average of
1.87% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1950 bought what
$0.74 buys in 1966: the 1950 dollar
lost 25.6% of its purchasing power over
these 16 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 1966 at the same ratio, 1.34: $1,000 becomes
$1,344, and $10,000 becomes $13,444.
Amount in 1950
Value in 1966
$1.00
$1.34
$5.00
$6.72
$10.00
$13.44
$20.00
$26.89
$50.00
$67.22
$100
$134
$500
$672
$1,000
$1,344
$5,000
$6,722
$10,000
$13,444
$100,000
$134,440
$1,000,000
$1,344,398
Inflation by spending category, 1950–1966
Between 1950 and 1966, medical care rose the most, up 74.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 21.6%, against 34.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1950
spending costs in 1966, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1950 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.87%
$134
Medical care
3.53%
$174
Transportation
2.23%
$142
Food
1.80%
$133
Apparel
1.23%
$122
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 1966
Prices climbed fastest in the 1950s, averaging 2.08% a year, and slowest in the 1960s (1.52% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1950–1966 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1950, at end
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$123
1960–1966
1.52%
9.5%
$134
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1950
$100 from 1950 had already become $120 by
1958, on its way to $134 in 1966; 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 1966, prices rose 2.9% and $100 from 1950 had the buying
power of $134; the year's average CPI of 32.4 is the level
behind every 1966 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 2.9% in 1966, nearly double 1965’s
1.6% as Vietnam War spending kept climbing without an offsetting tax
increase, pushing the economy closer to capacity and prices higher along
with it. Medicare coverage took effect that July 1, extending federal
health insurance to roughly 19 million Americans age 65 and older under
the program signed into law the year before. The Federal Reserve had
already moved to cool the overheating economy, raising its discount rate
the previous December over White House objections; the tightening carried
into 1966 as the first postwar credit crunch, freezing parts of the
housing and municipal bond markets even as inflation kept climbing. Congress widened
the wage floor’s reach that September 23, when the Fair Labor Standards
Amendments of 1966 set a $1.40 minimum wage effective the following
February and extended coverage to roughly 9 million more workers in
retail, hospitals, schools, and other services not previously covered.
Consumer prices finished 1966 227.3% above their 1913
level. First-class postage held at 5 cents, and the minimum wage stayed at
$1.25 an hour for the rest of the year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1950 to 1966: $100 is worth $134 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1966/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1950 to 1966. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1966/