$100 in 1954 is worth $866 in 2013,
because prices increased 766.0% over that period, an average of
3.73% a year.
$100 in 1954 has
the same buying power as
$866
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
766.0%
Average inflation rate
3.73% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$866
Price difference ($100 base)
$766
CPI in 1954
26.9
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1954
0.75%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1954 → 2013
$866
$100 in 2013 → 1954
$11.55
What happened to prices between 1954 and 2013
Between 1954 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 26.9 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 766.0%, which works out to an average of
3.73% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1954 bought what
$0.12 buys in 2013: the 1954 dollar
lost 88.5% of its purchasing power over
these 59 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 2013 at the same ratio, 8.66: $1,000 becomes
$8,660, and $10,000 becomes $86,601.
Amount in 1954
Value in 2013
$1.00
$8.66
$5.00
$43.30
$10.00
$86.60
$20.00
$173
$50.00
$433
$100
$866
$500
$4,330
$1,000
$8,660
$5,000
$43,301
$10,000
$86,601
$100,000
$866,011
$1,000,000
$8,660,112
Inflation by spending category, 1954–2013
Between 1954 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 2288.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 195.6%, against 766.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1954
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1954 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.73%
$866
Medical care
5.53%
$2,388
Food
3.67%
$841
Transportation
3.66%
$833
Apparel
1.85%
$296
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 2013
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 1954–2013 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$640
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$811
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$866
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1954
$100 from 1954 had already become $386 by
1984, on its way to $866 in 2013; 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: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1954 had the buying
power of $866; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1954 to 2013: $100 is worth $866 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1954-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1954 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1954-to-2013/