$100 in 1961 is worth $779 in 2013,
because prices increased 679.1% over that period, an average of
4.03% a year.
$100 in 1961 has
the same buying power as
$779
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
679.1%
Average inflation rate
4.03% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$779
Price difference ($100 base)
$679
CPI in 1961
29.9
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1961
1.01%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1961 → 2013
$779
$100 in 2013 → 1961
$12.83
What happened to prices between 1961 and 2013
Between 1961 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 29.9 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 679.1%, which works out to an average of
4.03% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1961 bought what
$0.13 buys in 2013: the 1961 dollar
lost 87.2% of its purchasing power over
these 52 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 2013 at the same ratio, 7.79: $1,000 becomes
$7,791, and $10,000 becomes $77,912.
Amount in 1961
Value in 2013
$1.00
$7.79
$5.00
$38.96
$10.00
$77.91
$20.00
$156
$50.00
$390
$100
$779
$500
$3,896
$1,000
$7,791
$5,000
$38,956
$10,000
$77,912
$100,000
$779,120
$1,000,000
$7,791,204
Inflation by spending category, 1961–2013
Between 1961 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 1756.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 176.4%, against 679.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1961
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1961 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.03%
$779
Medical care
5.78%
$1,856
Energy
4.69%
$1,086
Food
4.03%
$780
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.96%
$754
Transportation
3.88%
$722
Apparel
1.97%
$276
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1961: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1961 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1961–2013 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$437
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$576
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$729
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$779
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1961
$100 from 1961 had already become $380 by
1987, on its way to $779 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 1961 had the buying
power of $779; 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 1961 to 2013: $100 is worth $779 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1961-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1961 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1961-to-2013/