$100 in 1958 is worth $210 in 1977,
because prices increased 109.7% over that period, an average of
3.97% a year.
$100 in 1958 has
the same buying power as
$210
in 1977
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
109.7%
Average inflation rate
3.97% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$210
Price difference ($100 base)
$110
CPI in 1958
28.9
CPI in 1977
60.6
Inflation in 1958
2.85%
Inflation in 1977
6.50%
$100 in 1958 → 1977
$210
$100 in 1977 → 1958
$47.69
What happened to prices between 1958 and 1977
Between 1958 and 1977, the Consumer Price Index went from 28.9 to 60.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 109.7%, which works out to an average of
3.97% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1958 bought what
$0.48 buys in 1977: the 1958 dollar
lost 52.3% of its purchasing power over
these 19 years.
Consumer prices rose 2.8% in 1958, down only slightly from
1957’s 3.3% even as the country sank into the sharpest
postwar recession to that point, an early sign that inflation and a
shrinking economy could coexist rather than trade off against each other.
The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the downturn’s trough to
that April, with unemployment peaking near 7.5% that summer, the worst
reading since the 1930s. The Post Office raised first-class postage to 4
cents that August 1, up from 3 cents, the rate’s first change since 1932.
Washington answered the Soviet Union’s technological lead that summer
too: Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29,
establishing NASA, which opened for business that October 1 to compete
with the Soviet space program after the shock of Sputnik the year before.
Consumer prices finished 1958 191.9% above their 1913
level. The minimum wage held at $1.00 an hour, and first-class postage
rose to 4 cents that August, the first increase since 1932.
Every 1958 amount converts to 1977 at the same ratio, 2.10: $1,000 becomes
$2,097, and $10,000 becomes $20,969.
Amount in 1958
Value in 1977
$1.00
$2.10
$5.00
$10.48
$10.00
$20.97
$20.00
$41.94
$50.00
$105
$100
$210
$500
$1,048
$1,000
$2,097
$5,000
$10,484
$10,000
$20,969
$100,000
$209,689
$1,000,000
$2,096,886
Inflation by spending category, 1958–1977
Between 1958 and 1977, medical care rose the most, up 176.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 76.2%, against 109.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1958
spending costs in 1977, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1958 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.97%
$210
Medical care
5.50%
$277
Energy
4.48%
$230
Food
4.16%
$217
Transportation
3.88%
$206
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.88%
$206
Apparel
3.03%
$176
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1958: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1958 to 1977
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.58% a year, and slowest in the 1950s (1.20% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1958–1977 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1958, at end
1958–1960
1.20%
2.4%
$102
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$134
1970–1977
6.58%
56.2%
$210
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1958
$100 from 1958 had already become $116 by
1967, on its way to $210 in 1977; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 11.0% in 1974, and the smallest rise was 0.7% in 1959.
In 1977, prices rose 6.5% and $100 from 1958 had the buying
power of $210; the year's average CPI of 60.6 is the level
behind every 1977 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 6.5% in 1977, ticking back up from 1976’s
5.8% as the economic recovery strengthened, wages climbed, and energy costs
pushed higher again. The year opened with a warning about that energy
dependence: record cold across the Midwest and Northeast in January and
February strained natural gas supplies so badly that schools and factories in
several states shut down for days to conserve fuel. Jimmy Carter, inaugurated
that January, made energy policy a centerpiece of his presidency, and
Congress created the cabinet-level Department of Energy that August to
consolidate programs built up piecemeal since the 1973 oil embargo. Culture
offered some relief from the anxiety: released that May, Star Wars became the
highest-grossing film in history to that point, drawing lines around theater
blocks for months. The year also closed an era in a different way. Elvis
Presley was found dead at his Graceland home on August 16 at age 42, drawing
tens of thousands of mourners to Memphis. A median household earned $13,572
in 1977, a new home sold for a median $48,800, and gas averaged 62 cents a
gallon. Consumer prices stood 512.1% above their 1913 level,
with the energy anxieties of the year setting up the harder shocks of 1978
and 1979.
MLA: “Inflation from 1958 to 1977: $100 is worth $210 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-1977/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1958 to 1977. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-1977/