$100 in 1958 is worth $285 in 1980,
because prices increased 185.1% over that period, an average of
4.88% a year.
$100 in 1958 has
the same buying power as
$285
in 1980
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
185.1%
Average inflation rate
4.88% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$285
Price difference ($100 base)
$185
CPI in 1958
28.9
CPI in 1980
82.4
Inflation in 1958
2.85%
Inflation in 1980
13.50%
$100 in 1958 → 1980
$285
$100 in 1980 → 1958
$35.07
What happened to prices between 1958 and 1980
Between 1958 and 1980, the Consumer Price Index went from 28.9 to 82.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 185.1%, which works out to an average of
4.88% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1958 bought what
$0.35 buys in 1980: the 1958 dollar
lost 64.9% of its purchasing power over
these 22 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 1980 at the same ratio, 2.85: $1,000 becomes
$2,851, and $10,000 becomes $28,512.
Amount in 1958
Value in 1980
$1.00
$2.85
$5.00
$14.26
$10.00
$28.51
$20.00
$57.02
$50.00
$143
$100
$285
$500
$1,426
$1,000
$2,851
$5,000
$14,256
$10,000
$28,512
$100,000
$285,121
$1,000,000
$2,851,211
Inflation by spending category, 1958–1980
Between 1958 and 1980, energy rose the most, up 300.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 103.8%, against 185.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1958
spending costs in 1980, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1958 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.88%
$285
Energy
6.50%
$400
Medical care
6.04%
$364
Transportation
4.97%
$291
Food
4.92%
$287
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.67%
$273
Apparel
3.29%
$204
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1958: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1958 to 1980
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1950s (1.20% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1958–1980 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
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$285
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1958
$100 from 1958 had already become $127 by
1969, on its way to $285 in 1980; 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 the smallest rise was 0.7% in 1959.
In 1980, prices rose 13.5% and $100 from 1958 had the buying
power of $285; the year's average CPI of 82.4 is the level
behind every 1980 figure on this page.
1980 sat at the very peak of the Great Inflation. Prices rose 13.5% in that
single year, mortgage rates were climbing toward 16%, and the Federal Reserve
under Paul Volcker was administering the painful interest-rate medicine that
would finally break the inflationary spiral, at the cost of the deep 1981–82
recession. No single year looms larger in how Americans think about inflation.
MLA: “Inflation from 1958 to 1980: $100 is worth $285 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-1980/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1958 to 1980. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-1980/