$100 in 1958 is worth $613 in 2001,
because prices increased 512.8% over that period, an average of
4.31% a year.
$100 in 1958 has
the same buying power as
$613
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
512.8%
Average inflation rate
4.31% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$613
Price difference ($100 base)
$513
CPI in 1958
28.9
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1958
2.85%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1958 → 2001
$613
$100 in 2001 → 1958
$16.32
What happened to prices between 1958 and 2001
Between 1958 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 28.9 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 512.8%, which works out to an average of
4.31% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1958 bought what
$0.16 buys in 2001: the 1958 dollar
lost 83.7% of its purchasing power over
these 43 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 2001 at the same ratio, 6.13: $1,000 becomes
$6,128, and $10,000 becomes $61,280.
Amount in 1958
Value in 2001
$1.00
$6.13
$5.00
$30.64
$10.00
$61.28
$20.00
$123
$50.00
$306
$100
$613
$500
$3,064
$1,000
$6,128
$5,000
$30,640
$10,000
$61,280
$100,000
$612,803
$1,000,000
$6,128,028
Inflation by spending category, 1958–2001
Between 1958 and 2001, medical care rose the most, up 1224.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 185.4%, against 512.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1958
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1958 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.31%
$613
Medical care
6.19%
$1,324
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.37%
$629
Energy
4.26%
$601
Food
4.14%
$573
Transportation
4.00%
$540
Apparel
2.47%
$285
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1958: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1958 to 2001
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 1958–2001 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
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$613
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1958
$100 from 1958 had already become $285 by
1980, on its way to $613 in 2001; 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: 2001
In 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1958 had the buying
power of $613; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1958 to 2001: $100 is worth $613 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1958 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-2001/