$100 in 1958 is worth $596 in 2000,
because prices increased 495.8% over that period, an average of
4.34% a year.
$100 in 1958 has
the same buying power as
$596
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
495.8%
Average inflation rate
4.34% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$596
Price difference ($100 base)
$496
CPI in 1958
28.9
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1958
2.85%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1958 → 2000
$596
$100 in 2000 → 1958
$16.78
What happened to prices between 1958 and 2000
Between 1958 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 28.9 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 495.8%, which works out to an average of
4.34% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1958 bought what
$0.17 buys in 2000: the 1958 dollar
lost 83.2% of its purchasing power over
these 42 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 2000 at the same ratio, 5.96: $1,000 becomes
$5,958, and $10,000 becomes $59,585.
Amount in 1958
Value in 2000
$1.00
$5.96
$5.00
$29.79
$10.00
$59.58
$20.00
$119
$50.00
$298
$100
$596
$500
$2,979
$1,000
$5,958
$5,000
$29,792
$10,000
$59,585
$100,000
$595,848
$1,000,000
$5,958,478
Inflation by spending category, 1958–2000
Between 1958 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 1166.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 190.6%, against 495.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1958
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1958 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.34%
$596
Medical care
6.23%
$1,266
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.41%
$613
Energy
4.27%
$580
Food
4.17%
$556
Transportation
4.08%
$536
Apparel
2.57%
$291
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1958: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1958 to 2000
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 1958–2000 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$596
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1958
$100 from 1958 had already become $226 by
1978, on its way to $596 in 2000; 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: 2000
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1958 had the buying
power of $596; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1958 to 2000: $100 is worth $596 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1958 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-2000/