$100 in 1950 is worth $565 in 1991,
because prices increased 465.1% over that period, an average of
4.31% a year.
$100 in 1950 has
the same buying power as
$565
in 1991
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
465.1%
Average inflation rate
4.31% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$565
Price difference ($100 base)
$465
CPI in 1950
24.1
CPI in 1991
136.2
Inflation in 1950
1.26%
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
$100 in 1950 → 1991
$565
$100 in 1991 → 1950
$17.69
What happened to prices between 1950 and 1991
Between 1950 and 1991, the Consumer Price Index went from 24.1 to 136.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 465.1%, which works out to an average of
4.31% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1950 bought what
$0.18 buys in 1991: the 1950 dollar
lost 82.3% of its purchasing power over
these 41 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 1991 at the same ratio, 5.65: $1,000 becomes
$5,651, and $10,000 becomes $56,515.
Amount in 1950
Value in 1991
$1.00
$5.65
$5.00
$28.26
$10.00
$56.51
$20.00
$113
$50.00
$283
$100
$565
$500
$2,826
$1,000
$5,651
$5,000
$28,257
$10,000
$56,515
$100,000
$565,145
$1,000,000
$5,651,452
Inflation by spending category, 1950–1991
Between 1950 and 1991, medical care rose the most, up 1072.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 219.4%, against 465.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1950
spending costs in 1991, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1950 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.31%
$565
Medical care
6.19%
$1,172
Transportation
4.22%
$545
Food
4.18%
$537
Apparel
2.87%
$319
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 1991
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 1950–1991 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$542
1990–1991
4.21%
4.2%
$565
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1950
$100 from 1950 had already become $161 by
1970, on its way to $565 in 1991; 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: 1991
In 1991, prices rose 4.2% and $100 from 1950 had the buying
power of $565; the year's average CPI of 136.2 is the level
behind every 1991 figure on this page.
1991 opened in recession and closed in a slow, uneven recovery. The median household earned
about $30,100 for the year, gas averaged $1.14 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $120,000.
Inflation ran at 4.2% for the year, down from 1990’s oil-driven spike, as the Gulf War ended in
February and crude oil retreated from its autumn highs. The recession itself, dated by the
National Bureau of Economic Research from July 1990 to March 1991, was technically over by
spring, but hiring stayed weak well into 1992, the stretch economists came to call the jobless
recovery. The Federal Reserve kept cutting interest rates through the year to support growth,
reversing the tightening campaign it had run through the late 1980s. In April the federal
minimum wage rose to $4.25 an hour, the second step of an increase from the $3.35 rate that had
held since 1981. The Postal Service had already raised the cost of a first-class stamp to 29
cents that February. It was the first full year of the decade without an oil shock driving
prices, even if the job market took longer to follow.
MLA: “Inflation from 1950 to 1991: $100 is worth $565 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1991/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1950 to 1991. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1991/