$100 in 1964 is worth $695 in 2008,
because prices increased 594.5% over that period, an average of
4.50% a year.
$100 in 1964 has
the same buying power as
$695
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
594.5%
Average inflation rate
4.50% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$695
Price difference ($100 base)
$595
CPI in 1964
31
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1964
1.31%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1964 → 2008
$695
$100 in 2008 → 1964
$14.40
What happened to prices between 1964 and 2008
Between 1964 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 31 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 594.5%, which works out to an average of
4.50% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1964 bought what
$0.14 buys in 2008: the 1964 dollar
lost 85.6% of its purchasing power over
these 44 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 2008 at the same ratio, 6.95: $1,000 becomes
$6,945, and $10,000 becomes $69,453.
Amount in 1964
Value in 2008
$1.00
$6.95
$5.00
$34.73
$10.00
$69.45
$20.00
$139
$50.00
$347
$100
$695
$500
$3,473
$1,000
$6,945
$5,000
$34,726
$10,000
$69,453
$100,000
$694,526
$1,000,000
$6,945,258
Inflation by spending category, 1964–2008
Between 1964 and 2008, medical care rose the most, up 1379.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 151.4%, against 594.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1964
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1964 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.50%
$695
Medical care
6.32%
$1,480
Energy
5.49%
$1,052
Food
4.45%
$680
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.41%
$667
Transportation
4.24%
$623
Apparel
2.12%
$251
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1964: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1964 to 2008
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 1964–2008 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
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$695
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1964
$100 from 1964 had already become $354 by
1986, on its way to $695 in 2008; 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: 2008
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1964 had the buying
power of $695; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1964 to 2008: $100 is worth $695 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1964-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1964 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1964-to-2008/