$100 in 1950 is worth $471 in 1987,
because prices increased 371.4% over that period, an average of
4.28% a year.
$100 in 1950 has
the same buying power as
$471
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
371.4%
Average inflation rate
4.28% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$471
Price difference ($100 base)
$371
CPI in 1950
24.1
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1950
1.26%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1950 → 1987
$471
$100 in 1987 → 1950
$21.21
What happened to prices between 1950 and 1987
Between 1950 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 24.1 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 371.4%, which works out to an average of
4.28% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1950 bought what
$0.21 buys in 1987: the 1950 dollar
lost 78.8% of its purchasing power over
these 37 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 1987 at the same ratio, 4.71: $1,000 becomes
$4,714, and $10,000 becomes $47,137.
Amount in 1950
Value in 1987
$1.00
$4.71
$5.00
$23.57
$10.00
$47.14
$20.00
$94.27
$50.00
$236
$100
$471
$500
$2,357
$1,000
$4,714
$5,000
$23,568
$10,000
$47,137
$100,000
$471,369
$1,000,000
$4,713,693
Inflation by spending category, 1950–1987
Between 1950 and 1987, medical care rose the most, up 761.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 174.4%, against 371.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1950
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1950 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.28%
$471
Medical care
5.99%
$862
Transportation
4.24%
$464
Food
4.13%
$447
Apparel
2.77%
$274
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 1987
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1950s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1950–1987 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
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$342
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$471
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1950
$100 from 1950 had already become $144 by
1968, on its way to $471 in 1987; 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 0.4% in 1955, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1987
In 1987, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1950 had the buying
power of $471; the year's average CPI of 113.6 is the level
behind every 1987 figure on this page.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
MLA: “Inflation from 1950 to 1987: $100 is worth $471 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1950 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1987/