$100 in 1958 is worth $485 in 1992,
because prices increased 385.5% over that period, an average of
4.76% a year.
$100 in 1958 has
the same buying power as
$485
in 1992
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
385.5%
Average inflation rate
4.76% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$485
Price difference ($100 base)
$385
CPI in 1958
28.9
CPI in 1992
140.3
Inflation in 1958
2.85%
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
$100 in 1958 → 1992
$485
$100 in 1992 → 1958
$20.60
What happened to prices between 1958 and 1992
Between 1958 and 1992, the Consumer Price Index went from 28.9 to 140.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 385.5%, which works out to an average of
4.76% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1958 bought what
$0.21 buys in 1992: the 1958 dollar
lost 79.4% of its purchasing power over
these 34 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 1992 at the same ratio, 4.85: $1,000 becomes
$4,855, and $10,000 becomes $48,547.
Amount in 1958
Value in 1992
$1.00
$4.85
$5.00
$24.27
$10.00
$48.55
$20.00
$97.09
$50.00
$243
$100
$485
$500
$2,427
$1,000
$4,855
$5,000
$24,273
$10,000
$48,547
$100,000
$485,467
$1,000,000
$4,854,671
Inflation by spending category, 1958–1992
Between 1958 and 1992, medical care rose the most, up 822.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 195.7%, against 385.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1958
spending costs in 1992, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1958 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.76%
$485
Medical care
6.75%
$923
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.83%
$498
Energy
4.72%
$479
Food
4.57%
$457
Transportation
4.47%
$442
Apparel
3.24%
$296
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1958: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1958 to 1992
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 1958–1992 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
1990–1992
3.61%
7.3%
$485
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1958
$100 from 1958 had already become $171 by
1974, on its way to $485 in 1992; 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: 1992
In 1992, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1958 had the buying
power of $485; the year's average CPI of 140.3 is the level
behind every 1992 figure on this page.
1992 was the year the recovery finally showed up in the numbers, if not yet in hiring. The
median household earned about $30,600, gas averaged $1.13 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly
$121,500. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the year, its calmest reading since the mid-1980s, as energy
prices stayed well below their 1990 peak and a slack labor market kept a lid on wages and prices
alike. The Federal Reserve kept cutting its policy rate through the year, reaching about 3% by
September, the lowest in decades, trying to jump-start hiring more than a year after the 1990-91
recession officially ended. The sluggish job market became the defining issue of the November
election, and Bill Clinton unseated incumbent George H.W. Bush, whose approval ratings had
fallen sharply from their post-Gulf War highs. In August, Hurricane Andrew tore through South
Florida, the costliest U.S. hurricane on record at the time, causing tens of billions of dollars
in damage and reshaping how insurers priced catastrophe risk for years afterward. Falling rates,
a costly hurricane, and an election fought over jobs defined a recovery that showed up in the
data well before it showed up in most paychecks.
MLA: “Inflation from 1958 to 1992: $100 is worth $485 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-1992/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1958 to 1992. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-1992/