$100 in 1954 is worth $422 in 1987,
because prices increased 322.3% over that period, an average of
4.46% a year.
$100 in 1954 has
the same buying power as
$422
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
322.3%
Average inflation rate
4.46% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$422
Price difference ($100 base)
$322
CPI in 1954
26.9
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1954
0.75%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1954 → 1987
$422
$100 in 1987 → 1954
$23.68
What happened to prices between 1954 and 1987
Between 1954 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 26.9 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 322.3%, which works out to an average of
4.46% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1954 bought what
$0.24 buys in 1987: the 1954 dollar
lost 76.3% of its purchasing power over
these 33 years.
Consumer prices rose 0.7% in 1954, extending 1953’s 0.8%
slowdown even as the economy tipped into recession, an early example of
prices continuing to rise through a downturn rather than falling with it.
The National Bureau of Economic Research dates that recession from July
1953 to May 1954, as defense spending fell after the Korean War armistice
and the tighter monetary policy of the year before worked its way through
the economy. The Supreme Court reshaped a different part of American life
that spring: its unanimous May 17 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education
held that “separate but equal” public schools violated the Constitution,
overturning the legal basis for segregated education. Washington also
closed the book on a different fight that year. Following the televised
Army-McCarthy hearings that spring, the Senate voted 67 to 22 on December
2 to condemn Senator Joseph McCarthy’s conduct, ending his dominance of
American politics after four years of anti-communist investigations.
Consumer prices finished 1954 171.7% above their 1913
level, essentially flat with 1953 as the mild recession
held the cost of living in check. First-class postage held at 3 cents,
and the minimum wage stayed at 75 cents an hour.
Every 1954 amount converts to 1987 at the same ratio, 4.22: $1,000 becomes
$4,223, and $10,000 becomes $42,230.
Amount in 1954
Value in 1987
$1.00
$4.22
$5.00
$21.12
$10.00
$42.23
$20.00
$84.46
$50.00
$211
$100
$422
$500
$2,112
$1,000
$4,223
$5,000
$21,115
$10,000
$42,230
$100,000
$422,305
$1,000,000
$4,223,048
Inflation by spending category, 1954–1987
Between 1954 and 1987, medical care rose the most, up 630.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 156.6%, against 322.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1954
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1954 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.46%
$422
Medical care
6.21%
$731
Transportation
4.32%
$404
Food
4.31%
$402
Apparel
2.90%
$257
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1954: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1954 to 1987
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1950s (1.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1954–1987 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1954, at end
1954–1960
1.61%
10.0%
$110
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$144
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$306
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$422
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1954
$100 from 1954 had already become $144 by
1970, on its way to $422 in 1987; 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: 1987
In 1987, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1954 had the buying
power of $422; the year's average CPI of 113.6 is the level
behind every 1987 figure on this page.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
MLA: “Inflation from 1954 to 1987: $100 is worth $422 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1954-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1954 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1954-to-1987/