$100 in 1958 is worth $452 in 1990,
because prices increased 352.2% over that period, an average of
4.83% a year.
$100 in 1958 has
the same buying power as
$452
in 1990
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
352.2%
Average inflation rate
4.83% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$452
Price difference ($100 base)
$352
CPI in 1958
28.9
CPI in 1990
130.7
Inflation in 1958
2.85%
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
$100 in 1958 → 1990
$452
$100 in 1990 → 1958
$22.11
What happened to prices between 1958 and 1990
Between 1958 and 1990, the Consumer Price Index went from 28.9 to 130.7.
Cumulatively, prices increased 352.2%, which works out to an average of
4.83% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1958 bought what
$0.22 buys in 1990: the 1958 dollar
lost 77.9% of its purchasing power over
these 32 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 1990 at the same ratio, 4.52: $1,000 becomes
$4,522, and $10,000 becomes $45,225.
Amount in 1958
Value in 1990
$1.00
$4.52
$5.00
$22.61
$10.00
$45.22
$20.00
$90.45
$50.00
$226
$100
$452
$500
$2,261
$1,000
$4,522
$5,000
$22,612
$10,000
$45,225
$100,000
$452,249
$1,000,000
$4,522,491
Inflation by spending category, 1958–1990
Between 1958 and 1990, medical care rose the most, up 690.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 178.3%, against 352.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1958
spending costs in 1990, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1958 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.83%
$452
Medical care
6.67%
$790
Energy
4.99%
$475
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.87%
$458
Food
4.73%
$438
Transportation
4.60%
$421
Apparel
3.25%
$278
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1958: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1958 to 1990
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 1958–1990 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$452
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1958
$100 from 1958 had already become $171 by
1974, on its way to $452 in 1990; 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.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1990
In 1990, prices rose 5.4% and $100 from 1958 had the buying
power of $452; the year's average CPI of 130.7 is the level
behind every 1990 figure on this page.
In 1990, the median U.S. household earned about $29,900, gas averaged $1.15 a
gallon, and mailing a letter cost a quarter. Inflation ran hot at 5.4% for the
year, its highest rate since 1982, pushed up by an oil shock after Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait, and the economy tipped into recession that summer. It was
the last gasp of elevated inflation before the long calm of the 1990s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1958 to 1990: $100 is worth $452 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-1990/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1958 to 1990. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-1990/