$100 in 1950 is worth $205 in 1974,
because prices increased 104.6% over that period, an average of
3.03% a year.
$100 in 1950 has
the same buying power as
$205
in 1974
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
104.6%
Average inflation rate
3.03% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$205
Price difference ($100 base)
$105
CPI in 1950
24.1
CPI in 1974
49.3
Inflation in 1950
1.26%
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
$100 in 1950 → 1974
$205
$100 in 1974 → 1950
$48.88
What happened to prices between 1950 and 1974
Between 1950 and 1974, the Consumer Price Index went from 24.1 to 49.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 104.6%, which works out to an average of
3.03% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1950 bought what
$0.49 buys in 1974: the 1950 dollar
lost 51.1% of its purchasing power over
these 24 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 1974 at the same ratio, 2.05: $1,000 becomes
$2,046, and $10,000 becomes $20,456.
Amount in 1950
Value in 1974
$1.00
$2.05
$5.00
$10.23
$10.00
$20.46
$20.00
$40.91
$50.00
$102
$100
$205
$500
$1,023
$1,000
$2,046
$5,000
$10,228
$10,000
$20,456
$100,000
$204,564
$1,000,000
$2,045,643
Inflation by spending category, 1950–1974
Between 1950 and 1974, medical care rose the most, up 180.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 72.2%, against 104.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1950
spending costs in 1974, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1950 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.03%
$205
Medical care
4.40%
$281
Food
3.28%
$217
Transportation
2.97%
$202
Apparel
2.29%
$172
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 1974
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.17% a year, and slowest in the 1950s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1950–1974 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1950, at end
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$123
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$161
1970–1974
6.17%
27.1%
$205
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1950
$100 from 1950 had already become $125 by
1962, on its way to $205 in 1974; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 11.0% in 1974, and prices fell 0.4% in 1955, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 1974, prices rose 11.0% and $100 from 1950 had the buying
power of $205; the year's average CPI of 49.3 is the level
behind every 1974 figure on this page.
1974 was the year the postwar economy broke its old rules. Consumer prices
rose 11.0%, the fastest annual increase since 1947, as the Arab oil embargo
that ran from October 1973 to March 1974 roughly quadrupled the price of
crude oil worldwide. Gasoline, which had averaged 38.5 cents a gallon in
1973, jumped to 53.2 cents, and shortages forced many states into odd-even
rationing at the pump. Nixon’s wage and price controls, in place in some form
since 1971, expired at the end of April, removing the last brake on prices
just as the oil shock hit. Nixon himself resigned in August over Watergate,
and Gerald Ford’s response to inflation, a voluntary “Whip Inflation Now”
campaign built around lapel buttons, became a symbol of how little
conventional politics could do against the problem. Prices kept climbing even
as the economy weakened: a recession that started in November 1973 dragged
on, the Dow fell to a bear-market bottom of 577.60 in December, and
unemployment was already rising toward the 9% it would reach in 1975. The
combination of rising prices and a shrinking economy gave the decade its
name: stagflation.
MLA: “Inflation from 1950 to 1974: $100 is worth $205 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1974/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1950 to 1974. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1974/