$100 in 1958 is worth $830 in 2016,
because prices increased 730.5% over that period, an average of
3.72% a year.
$100 in 1958 has
the same buying power as
$830
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
730.5%
Average inflation rate
3.72% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$830
Price difference ($100 base)
$730
CPI in 1958
28.9
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1958
2.85%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1958 → 2016
$830
$100 in 2016 → 1958
$12.04
What happened to prices between 1958 and 2016
Between 1958 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 28.9 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 730.5%, which works out to an average of
3.72% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1958 bought what
$0.12 buys in 2016: the 1958 dollar
lost 88.0% of its purchasing power over
these 58 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 2016 at the same ratio, 8.30: $1,000 becomes
$8,305, and $10,000 becomes $83,047.
Amount in 1958
Value in 2016
$1.00
$8.30
$5.00
$41.52
$10.00
$83.05
$20.00
$166
$50.00
$415
$100
$830
$500
$4,152
$1,000
$8,305
$5,000
$41,524
$10,000
$83,047
$100,000
$830,474
$1,000,000
$8,304,740
Inflation by spending category, 1958–2016
Between 1958 and 2016, medical care rose the most, up 2150.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 182.6%, against 730.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1958
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1958 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.72%
$830
Medical care
5.52%
$2,251
Energy
3.82%
$882
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.73%
$836
Food
3.70%
$821
Transportation
3.36%
$681
Apparel
1.81%
$283
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1958: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1958 to 2016
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 1958–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$830
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1958
$100 from 1958 had already become $379 by
1986, on its way to $830 in 2016; 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: 2016
In 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1958 had the buying
power of $830; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1958 to 2016: $100 is worth $830 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1958 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1958-to-2016/