$100 in 1950 is worth $666 in 1997,
because prices increased 566.0% over that period, an average of
4.12% a year.
$100 in 1950 has
the same buying power as
$666
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
566.0%
Average inflation rate
4.12% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$666
Price difference ($100 base)
$566
CPI in 1950
24.1
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1950
1.26%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1950 → 1997
$666
$100 in 1997 → 1950
$15.02
What happened to prices between 1950 and 1997
Between 1950 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 24.1 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 566.0%, which works out to an average of
4.12% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1950 bought what
$0.15 buys in 1997: the 1950 dollar
lost 85.0% of its purchasing power over
these 47 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 1997 at the same ratio, 6.66: $1,000 becomes
$6,660, and $10,000 becomes $66,598.
Amount in 1950
Value in 1997
$1.00
$6.66
$5.00
$33.30
$10.00
$66.60
$20.00
$133
$50.00
$333
$100
$666
$500
$3,330
$1,000
$6,660
$5,000
$33,299
$10,000
$66,598
$100,000
$665,975
$1,000,000
$6,659,751
Inflation by spending category, 1950–1997
Between 1950 and 1997, medical care rose the most, up 1453.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 229.8%, against 566.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1950
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1950 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.12%
$666
Medical care
6.01%
$1,554
Transportation
4.01%
$636
Food
3.96%
$619
Apparel
2.57%
$330
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 1997
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 1950–1997 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
1990–1997
2.98%
22.8%
$666
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1950
$100 from 1950 had already become $205 by
1974, on its way to $666 in 1997; 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: 1997
In 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1950 had the buying
power of $666; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1950 to 1997: $100 is worth $666 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1950 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1997/