$100 in 1964 is worth $453 in 1992,
because prices increased 352.6% over that period, an average of
5.54% a year.
$100 in 1964 has
the same buying power as
$453
in 1992
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
352.6%
Average inflation rate
5.54% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$453
Price difference ($100 base)
$353
CPI in 1964
31
CPI in 1992
140.3
Inflation in 1964
1.31%
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
$100 in 1964 → 1992
$453
$100 in 1992 → 1964
$22.10
What happened to prices between 1964 and 1992
Between 1964 and 1992, the Consumer Price Index went from 31 to 140.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 352.6%, which works out to an average of
5.54% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1964 bought what
$0.22 buys in 1992: the 1964 dollar
lost 77.9% of its purchasing power over
these 28 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 1992 at the same ratio, 4.53: $1,000 becomes
$4,526, and $10,000 becomes $45,258.
Amount in 1964
Value in 1992
$1.00
$4.53
$5.00
$22.63
$10.00
$45.26
$20.00
$90.52
$50.00
$226
$100
$453
$500
$2,263
$1,000
$4,526
$5,000
$22,629
$10,000
$45,258
$100,000
$452,581
$1,000,000
$4,525,806
Inflation by spending category, 1964–1992
Between 1964 and 1992, medical care rose the most, up 672.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 178.9%, against 352.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1964
spending costs in 1992, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1964 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.54%
$453
Medical care
7.58%
$773
Energy
5.58%
$458
Core (all items less food & energy)
5.57%
$456
Food
5.41%
$438
Transportation
5.10%
$403
Apparel
3.73%
$279
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1964: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1964 to 1992
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (3.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1964–1992 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
1990–1992
3.61%
7.3%
$453
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1964
$100 from 1964 had already become $210 by
1978, on its way to $453 in 1992; 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 1992, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1964 had the buying
power of $453; the year's average CPI of 140.3 is the level
behind every 1992 figure on this page.
1992 was the year the recovery finally showed up in the numbers, if not yet in hiring. The
median household earned about $30,600, gas averaged $1.13 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly
$121,500. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the year, its calmest reading since the mid-1980s, as energy
prices stayed well below their 1990 peak and a slack labor market kept a lid on wages and prices
alike. The Federal Reserve kept cutting its policy rate through the year, reaching about 3% by
September, the lowest in decades, trying to jump-start hiring more than a year after the 1990-91
recession officially ended. The sluggish job market became the defining issue of the November
election, and Bill Clinton unseated incumbent George H.W. Bush, whose approval ratings had
fallen sharply from their post-Gulf War highs. In August, Hurricane Andrew tore through South
Florida, the costliest U.S. hurricane on record at the time, causing tens of billions of dollars
in damage and reshaping how insurers priced catastrophe risk for years afterward. Falling rates,
a costly hurricane, and an election fought over jobs defined a recovery that showed up in the
data well before it showed up in most paychecks.
MLA: “Inflation from 1964 to 1992: $100 is worth $453 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1964-to-1992/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1964 to 1992. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1964-to-1992/