$100 in 1950 is worth $676 in 1998,
because prices increased 576.3% over that period, an average of
4.06% a year.
$100 in 1950 has
the same buying power as
$676
in 1998
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
576.3%
Average inflation rate
4.06% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$676
Price difference ($100 base)
$576
CPI in 1950
24.1
CPI in 1998
163
Inflation in 1950
1.26%
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
$100 in 1950 → 1998
$676
$100 in 1998 → 1950
$14.79
What happened to prices between 1950 and 1998
Between 1950 and 1998, the Consumer Price Index went from 24.1 to 163.
Cumulatively, prices increased 576.3%, which works out to an average of
4.06% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1950 bought what
$0.15 buys in 1998: the 1950 dollar
lost 85.2% of its purchasing power over
these 48 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 1998 at the same ratio, 6.76: $1,000 becomes
$6,763, and $10,000 becomes $67,635.
Amount in 1950
Value in 1998
$1.00
$6.76
$5.00
$33.82
$10.00
$67.63
$20.00
$135
$50.00
$338
$100
$676
$500
$3,382
$1,000
$6,763
$5,000
$33,817
$10,000
$67,635
$100,000
$676,349
$1,000,000
$6,763,485
Inflation by spending category, 1950–1998
Between 1950 and 1998, medical care rose the most, up 1503.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 230.0%, against 576.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1950
spending costs in 1998, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1950 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.06%
$676
Medical care
5.95%
$1,603
Food
3.92%
$633
Transportation
3.89%
$624
Apparel
2.52%
$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 1998
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 1950–1998 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
1990–1998
2.80%
24.7%
$676
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1950
$100 from 1950 had already become $205 by
1974, on its way to $676 in 1998; 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: 1998
In 1998, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1950 had the buying
power of $676; the year's average CPI of 163 is the level
behind every 1998 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $38,900 in 1998, gas averaged just $1.06 a gallon, its
cheapest of the decade, and a new home cost roughly $152,500. Inflation ran at 1.6% for the
year, the lowest of the 1990s, as a glut of crude oil, worsened by weak demand from Asia’s
slowdown, pushed prices below $11 a barrel by December and pulled pump prices down with them.
The calm at home came alongside real turmoil abroad: in August, Russia devalued the ruble and
defaulted on its domestic debt, rattling markets already unsettled by the Asian financial
crisis, and in September the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management collapsed after its highly
leveraged bets went bad, prompting the Federal Reserve to organize a private-sector bailout by
more than a dozen banks to prevent a disorderly unwinding of its roughly $100 billion in
positions. The Fed also cut interest rates three times that fall, in September, October, and
November, an insurance policy against the global financial turmoil spreading to the U.S.
economy. Cheap oil and a well-timed set of rate cuts left 1998 as a year the U.S. economy
absorbed two foreign financial crises without much of a dent at home.
MLA: “Inflation from 1950 to 1998: $100 is worth $676 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1998/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1950 to 1998. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-1998/