$100 in 1964 is worth $422 in 1990,
because prices increased 321.6% over that period, an average of
5.69% a year.
$100 in 1964 has
the same buying power as
$422
in 1990
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
321.6%
Average inflation rate
5.69% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$422
Price difference ($100 base)
$322
CPI in 1964
31
CPI in 1990
130.7
Inflation in 1964
1.31%
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
$100 in 1964 → 1990
$422
$100 in 1990 → 1964
$23.72
What happened to prices between 1964 and 1990
Between 1964 and 1990, the Consumer Price Index went from 31 to 130.7.
Cumulatively, prices increased 321.6%, which works out to an average of
5.69% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1964 bought what
$0.24 buys in 1990: the 1964 dollar
lost 76.3% of its purchasing power over
these 26 years.
Consumer prices rose 1.3% in 1964, matching 1963’s pace
even as a large federal tax cut took effect that year. The Revenue Act of
1964, signed February 26, lowered individual and corporate tax rates
significantly, the cut Kennedy had proposed the year before his death and
Johnson pushed through Congress as a Keynesian bet that lower taxes would
spur enough growth without stoking prices. Congress reshaped civil rights
law that July 2, when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination
based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin in employment
and public accommodations, the most sweeping civil rights legislation
since Reconstruction. Vietnam policy shifted that August, when Congress
passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution after reported attacks on U.S. Navy
destroyers, authorizing Johnson to use military force in Vietnam without
a formal declaration of war. American pop culture changed that February
too: the Beatles landed at New York’s Kennedy Airport and played the Ed
Sullivan Show two days later for an estimated 73 million viewers,
igniting the “British Invasion.” Consumer prices finished 1964 213.1%
above their 1913 level. First-class postage held at 5
cents, and the minimum wage stayed at $1.25 an hour.
Every 1964 amount converts to 1990 at the same ratio, 4.22: $1,000 becomes
$4,216, and $10,000 becomes $42,161.
Amount in 1964
Value in 1990
$1.00
$4.22
$5.00
$21.08
$10.00
$42.16
$20.00
$84.32
$50.00
$211
$100
$422
$500
$2,108
$1,000
$4,216
$5,000
$21,081
$10,000
$42,161
$100,000
$421,613
$1,000,000
$4,216,129
Inflation by spending category, 1964–1990
Between 1964 and 1990, medical care rose the most, up 561.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 162.4%, against 321.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1964
spending costs in 1990, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1964 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.69%
$422
Medical care
7.54%
$662
Energy
5.99%
$454
Food
5.68%
$420
Core (all items less food & energy)
5.67%
$420
Transportation
5.31%
$384
Apparel
3.78%
$262
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1964: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1964 to 1990
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1960s (3.81% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1964–1990 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1964, at end
1964–1970
3.81%
25.2%
$125
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$266
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$422
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1964
$100 from 1964 had already become $195 by
1977, on its way to $422 in 1990; 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 1.6% in 1965.
In 1990, prices rose 5.4% and $100 from 1964 had the buying
power of $422; the year's average CPI of 130.7 is the level
behind every 1990 figure on this page.
In 1990, the median U.S. household earned about $29,900, gas averaged $1.15 a
gallon, and mailing a letter cost a quarter. Inflation ran hot at 5.4% for the
year, its highest rate since 1982, pushed up by an oil shock after Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait, and the economy tipped into recession that summer. It was
the last gasp of elevated inflation before the long calm of the 1990s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1964 to 1990: $100 is worth $422 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1964-to-1990/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1964 to 1990. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1964-to-1990/