$100 in 1954 is worth $567 in 1995,
because prices increased 466.5% over that period, an average of
4.32% a year.
$100 in 1954 has
the same buying power as
$567
in 1995
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
466.5%
Average inflation rate
4.32% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$567
Price difference ($100 base)
$467
CPI in 1954
26.9
CPI in 1995
152.4
Inflation in 1954
0.75%
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
$100 in 1954 → 1995
$567
$100 in 1995 → 1954
$17.65
What happened to prices between 1954 and 1995
Between 1954 and 1995, the Consumer Price Index went from 26.9 to 152.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 466.5%, which works out to an average of
4.32% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1954 bought what
$0.18 buys in 1995: the 1954 dollar
lost 82.3% of its purchasing power over
these 41 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 1995 at the same ratio, 5.67: $1,000 becomes
$5,665, and $10,000 becomes $56,654.
Amount in 1954
Value in 1995
$1.00
$5.67
$5.00
$28.33
$10.00
$56.65
$20.00
$113
$50.00
$283
$100
$567
$500
$2,833
$1,000
$5,665
$5,000
$28,327
$10,000
$56,654
$100,000
$566,543
$1,000,000
$5,665,428
Inflation by spending category, 1954–1995
Between 1954 and 1995, medical care rose the most, up 1138.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 206.3%, against 466.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1954
spending costs in 1995, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1954 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.32%
$567
Medical care
6.33%
$1,239
Transportation
4.17%
$533
Food
4.13%
$526
Apparel
2.77%
$306
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 1995
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 1954–1995 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$486
1990–1995
3.12%
16.6%
$567
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1954
$100 from 1954 had already become $183 by
1974, on its way to $567 in 1995; 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: 1995
In 1995, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1954 had the buying
power of $567; the year's average CPI of 152.4 is the level
behind every 1995 figure on this page.
In 1995, gas averaged $1.15 a gallon, a new home cost roughly $133,900, and the median household
earned about $34,100. Inflation ran at 2.8% for the year, little changed from 1994, as the
Federal Reserve shifted from raising rates to cutting them. Having lifted its policy rate six
times the year before, the Fed judged by July that the economy had cooled enough on its own, and
trimmed rates instead, an outcome economists would later point to as a rare soft landing. The
year opened with a currency crisis: Mexico’s peso lost roughly half its value against the dollar
in a matter of weeks, and the U.S. Treasury and the IMF assembled a $50 billion rescue package,
controversial in Congress, to stabilize it and keep the crisis from spreading to other emerging
markets. Closer to home, a budget standoff between President Clinton and the Republican Congress
shut down federal agencies twice, first for five days in November and then for 21 days spanning
December into January 1996, the longest shutdown up to that point. The Postal Service raised the
cost of a first-class stamp to 32 cents in January. Low, steady inflation was about the only calm
part of 1995’s economic story.
MLA: “Inflation from 1954 to 1995: $100 is worth $567 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1954-to-1995/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1954 to 1995. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1954-to-1995/