$100 in 1950 is worth $982 in 2014,
because prices increased 882.3% over that period, an average of
3.63% a year.
$100 in 1950 has
the same buying power as
$982
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
882.3%
Average inflation rate
3.63% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$982
Price difference ($100 base)
$882
CPI in 1950
24.1
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1950
1.26%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1950 → 2014
$982
$100 in 2014 → 1950
$10.18
What happened to prices between 1950 and 2014
Between 1950 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 24.1 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 882.3%, which works out to an average of
3.63% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1950 bought what
$0.10 buys in 2014: the 1950 dollar
lost 89.8% of its purchasing power over
these 64 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 2014 at the same ratio, 9.82: $1,000 becomes
$9,823, and $10,000 becomes $98,231.
Amount in 1950
Value in 2014
$1.00
$9.82
$5.00
$49.12
$10.00
$98.23
$20.00
$196
$50.00
$491
$100
$982
$500
$4,912
$1,000
$9,823
$5,000
$49,115
$10,000
$98,231
$100,000
$982,307
$1,000,000
$9,823,071
Inflation by spending category, 1950–2014
Between 1950 and 2014, medical care rose the most, up 2782.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 216.4%, against 882.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1950
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1950 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.63%
$982
Medical care
5.39%
$2,883
Food
3.59%
$956
Transportation
3.58%
$951
Apparel
1.82%
$316
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 2014
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1950–2014 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$905
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$982
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1950
$100 from 1950 had already become $342 by
1980, on its way to $982 in 2014; 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 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2014
In 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1950 had the buying
power of $982; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1950 to 2014: $100 is worth $982 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1950 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-2014/