$100 in 1950 is worth $715 in 2000,
because prices increased 614.5% over that period, an average of
4.01% a year.
$100 in 1950 has
the same buying power as
$715
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
614.5%
Average inflation rate
4.01% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$715
Price difference ($100 base)
$615
CPI in 1950
24.1
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1950
1.26%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1950 → 2000
$715
$100 in 2000 → 1950
$14.00
What happened to prices between 1950 and 2000
Between 1950 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 24.1 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 614.5%, which works out to an average of
4.01% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1950 bought what
$0.14 buys in 2000: the 1950 dollar
lost 86.0% of its purchasing power over
these 50 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 2000 at the same ratio, 7.15: $1,000 becomes
$7,145, and $10,000 becomes $71,452.
Amount in 1950
Value in 2000
$1.00
$7.15
$5.00
$35.73
$10.00
$71.45
$20.00
$143
$50.00
$357
$100
$715
$500
$3,573
$1,000
$7,145
$5,000
$35,726
$10,000
$71,452
$100,000
$714,523
$1,000,000
$7,145,228
Inflation by spending category, 1950–2000
Between 1950 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 1627.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 221.6%, against 614.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1950
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1950 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.01%
$715
Medical care
5.86%
$1,727
Transportation
3.89%
$675
Food
3.85%
$661
Apparel
2.36%
$322
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 2000
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 1950–2000 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$715
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1950
$100 from 1950 had already become $205 by
1974, on its way to $715 in 2000; 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: 2000
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1950 had the buying
power of $715; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1950 to 2000: $100 is worth $715 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1950 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-2000/