$100 in 1964 is worth $571 in 2001,
because prices increased 471.3% over that period, an average of
4.82% a year.
$100 in 1964 has
the same buying power as
$571
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
471.3%
Average inflation rate
4.82% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$571
Price difference ($100 base)
$471
CPI in 1964
31
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1964
1.31%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1964 → 2001
$571
$100 in 2001 → 1964
$17.50
What happened to prices between 1964 and 2001
Between 1964 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 31 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 471.3%, which works out to an average of
4.82% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1964 bought what
$0.18 buys in 2001: the 1964 dollar
lost 82.5% of its purchasing power over
these 37 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 2001 at the same ratio, 5.71: $1,000 becomes
$5,713, and $10,000 becomes $57,129.
Amount in 1964
Value in 2001
$1.00
$5.71
$5.00
$28.56
$10.00
$57.13
$20.00
$114
$50.00
$286
$100
$571
$500
$2,856
$1,000
$5,713
$5,000
$28,565
$10,000
$57,129
$100,000
$571,290
$1,000,000
$5,712,903
Inflation by spending category, 1964–2001
Between 1964 and 2001, medical care rose the most, up 1008.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 169.1%, against 471.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1964
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1964 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.82%
$571
Medical care
6.72%
$1,109
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.85%
$576
Energy
4.84%
$575
Food
4.71%
$550
Transportation
4.40%
$491
Apparel
2.71%
$269
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1964: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1964 to 2001
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1964–2001 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$555
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$571
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1964
$100 from 1964 had already become $311 by
1982, on its way to $571 in 2001; 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 1998.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2001
In 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1964 had the buying
power of $571; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1964 to 2001: $100 is worth $571 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1964-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1964 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1964-to-2001/