$100 in 1961 is worth $380 in 1987,
because prices increased 279.9% over that period, an average of
5.27% a year.
$100 in 1961 has
the same buying power as
$380
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
279.9%
Average inflation rate
5.27% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$380
Price difference ($100 base)
$280
CPI in 1961
29.9
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1961
1.01%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1961 → 1987
$380
$100 in 1987 → 1961
$26.32
What happened to prices between 1961 and 1987
Between 1961 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 29.9 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 279.9%, which works out to an average of
5.27% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1961 bought what
$0.26 buys in 1987: the 1961 dollar
lost 73.7% of its purchasing power over
these 26 years.
Consumer prices rose 1.0% in 1961, down from 1960’s 1.7% as
the economy climbed out of recession, a recovery the National Bureau of
Economic Research dates to that February. Politically, the year opened
with a changing of the guard: outgoing president Dwight Eisenhower’s
farewell address on January 17 warned of a growing “military-industrial
complex,” and three days later John F. Kennedy was sworn in, urging
Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you.” The new
administration’s first major foreign-policy test came quickly and badly:
a CIA-organized force of Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs on April
17 aiming to topple Fidel Castro, and without the U.S. air support Kennedy
withheld, the invasion collapsed within three days. Cold War tensions
hardened further that August, when East German forces sealed the border
between East and West Berlin overnight, building what would become the
Berlin Wall and stopping the flow of refugees to the West. Domestically,
the wage floor moved for the first time in five years: the Fair Labor
Standards Amendments of 1961, effective that September, raised the
minimum wage to $1.15 an hour and extended coverage to roughly 3.6 million
additional workers. Consumer prices finished 1961 202.0% above their
1913 level. First-class postage held at 4 cents.
Every 1961 amount converts to 1987 at the same ratio, 3.80: $1,000 becomes
$3,799, and $10,000 becomes $37,993.
Amount in 1961
Value in 1987
$1.00
$3.80
$5.00
$19.00
$10.00
$37.99
$20.00
$75.99
$50.00
$190
$100
$380
$500
$1,900
$1,000
$3,799
$5,000
$18,997
$10,000
$37,993
$100,000
$379,933
$1,000,000
$3,799,331
Inflation by spending category, 1961–1987
Between 1961 and 1987, medical care rose the most, up 468.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 139.9%, against 279.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1961
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1961 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.27%
$380
Medical care
6.91%
$568
Energy
5.41%
$394
Core (all items less food & energy)
5.28%
$381
Food
5.20%
$373
Transportation
4.94%
$350
Apparel
3.42%
$240
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1961: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1961 to 1987
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1960s (2.94% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1961–1987 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1961, at end
1961–1970
2.94%
29.8%
$130
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$276
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$380
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1961
$100 from 1961 had already become $165 by
1974, on its way to $380 in 1987; 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 1.0% in 1962.
In 1987, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1961 had the buying
power of $380; the year's average CPI of 113.6 is the level
behind every 1987 figure on this page.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
MLA: “Inflation from 1961 to 1987: $100 is worth $380 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1961-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1961 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1961-to-1987/