$100 in 1958 is worth $806 in 2013,
because prices increased 706.1% over that period, an average of
3.87% a year.
$100 in 1958 has
the same buying power as
$806
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
706.1%
Average inflation rate
3.87% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$806
Price difference ($100 base)
$706
CPI in 1958
28.9
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1958
2.85%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1958 → 2013
$806
$100 in 2013 → 1958
$12.41
What happened to prices between 1958 and 2013
Between 1958 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 28.9 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 706.1%, which works out to an average of
3.87% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1958 bought what
$0.12 buys in 2013: the 1958 dollar
lost 87.6% of its purchasing power over
these 55 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 2013 at the same ratio, 8.06: $1,000 becomes
$8,061, and $10,000 becomes $80,608.
Amount in 1958
Value in 2013
$1.00
$8.06
$5.00
$40.30
$10.00
$80.61
$20.00
$161
$50.00
$403
$100
$806
$500
$4,030
$1,000
$8,061
$5,000
$40,304
$10,000
$80,608
$100,000
$806,080
$1,000,000
$8,060,796
Inflation by spending category, 1958–2013
Between 1958 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 1963.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 185.7%, against 706.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1958
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1958 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.87%
$806
Medical care
5.66%
$2,064
Energy
4.52%
$1,137
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.83%
$790
Food
3.82%
$785
Transportation
3.76%
$760
Apparel
1.93%
$286
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1958: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1958 to 2013
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 1958–2013 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$755
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$806
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1958
$100 from 1958 had already become $379 by
1986, on its way to $806 in 2013; 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 prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1958 had the buying
power of $806; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1958 to 2013: $100 is worth $806 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1958 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-2013/