$100 in 1950 is worth $1,042 in 2018,
because prices increased 941.9% over that period, an average of
3.51% a year.
$100 in 1950 has
the same buying power as
$1,042
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
941.9%
Average inflation rate
3.51% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,042
Price difference ($100 base)
$942
CPI in 1950
24.1
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 1950
1.26%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 1950 → 2018
$1,042
$100 in 2018 → 1950
$9.60
What happened to prices between 1950 and 2018
Between 1950 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 24.1 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 941.9%, which works out to an average of
3.51% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1950 bought what
$0.10 buys in 2018: the 1950 dollar
lost 90.4% of its purchasing power over
these 68 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 2018 at the same ratio, 10.42: $1,000 becomes
$10,419, and $10,000 becomes $104,194.
Amount in 1950
Value in 2018
$1.00
$10.42
$5.00
$52.10
$10.00
$104
$20.00
$208
$50.00
$521
$100
$1,042
$500
$5,210
$1,000
$10,419
$5,000
$52,097
$10,000
$104,194
$100,000
$1,041,938
$1,000,000
$10,419,378
Inflation by spending category, 1950–2018
Between 1950 and 2018, medical care rose the most, up 3110.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 211.8%, against 941.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1950
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1950 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.51%
$1,042
Medical care
5.23%
$3,210
Food
3.44%
$998
Transportation
3.33%
$928
Apparel
1.69%
$312
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 2018
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1950–2018 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
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$1,042
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1950
$100 from 1950 had already become $446 by
1985, on its way to $1,042 in 2018; 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: 2018
In 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 1950 had the buying
power of $1,042; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1950 to 2018: $100 is worth $1,042 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1950 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1950-to-2018/