$100 in 1958 is worth $393 in 1987,
because prices increased 293.1% over that period, an average of
4.83% a year.
$100 in 1958 has
the same buying power as
$393
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
293.1%
Average inflation rate
4.83% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$393
Price difference ($100 base)
$293
CPI in 1958
28.9
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1958
2.85%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1958 → 1987
$393
$100 in 1987 → 1958
$25.44
What happened to prices between 1958 and 1987
Between 1958 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 28.9 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 293.1%, which works out to an average of
4.83% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1958 bought what
$0.25 buys in 1987: the 1958 dollar
lost 74.6% of its purchasing power over
these 29 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 1987 at the same ratio, 3.93: $1,000 becomes
$3,931, and $10,000 becomes $39,308.
Amount in 1958
Value in 1987
$1.00
$3.93
$5.00
$19.65
$10.00
$39.31
$20.00
$78.62
$50.00
$197
$100
$393
$500
$1,965
$1,000
$3,931
$5,000
$19,654
$10,000
$39,308
$100,000
$393,080
$1,000,000
$3,930,796
Inflation by spending category, 1958–1987
Between 1958 and 1987, medical care rose the most, up 531.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 148.0%, against 293.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1958
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1958 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.83%
$393
Medical care
6.56%
$632
Energy
5.00%
$412
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.89%
$399
Food
4.67%
$376
Transportation
4.60%
$369
Apparel
3.18%
$248
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1958: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1958 to 1987
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 1958–1987 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
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$393
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1958
$100 from 1958 had already become $145 by
1972, on its way to $393 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 the smallest rise was 0.7% in 1959.
In 1987, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1958 had the buying
power of $393; 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 1958 to 1987: $100 is worth $393 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1958 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-1987/