$100 in 1964 is worth $751 in 2013,
because prices increased 651.5% over that period, an average of
4.20% a year.
$100 in 1964 has
the same buying power as
$751
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
651.5%
Average inflation rate
4.20% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$751
Price difference ($100 base)
$651
CPI in 1964
31
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1964
1.31%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1964 → 2013
$751
$100 in 2013 → 1964
$13.31
What happened to prices between 1964 and 2013
Between 1964 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 31 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 651.5%, which works out to an average of
4.20% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1964 bought what
$0.13 buys in 2013: the 1964 dollar
lost 86.7% of its purchasing power over
these 49 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 2013 at the same ratio, 7.51: $1,000 becomes
$7,515, and $10,000 becomes $75,147.
Amount in 1964
Value in 2013
$1.00
$7.51
$5.00
$37.57
$10.00
$75.15
$20.00
$150
$50.00
$376
$100
$751
$500
$3,757
$1,000
$7,515
$5,000
$37,574
$10,000
$75,147
$100,000
$751,474
$1,000,000
$7,514,742
Inflation by spending category, 1964–2013
Between 1964 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 1628.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 169.4%, against 651.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1964
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1964 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.20%
$751
Medical care
5.99%
$1,728
Energy
4.99%
$1,086
Food
4.20%
$752
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.12%
$724
Transportation
4.03%
$692
Apparel
2.04%
$269
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1964: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1964 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 1964–2013 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$703
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$751
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1964
$100 from 1964 had already become $382 by
1988, on its way to $751 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 1964 had the buying
power of $751; 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 1964 to 2013: $100 is worth $751 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1964-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1964 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1964-to-2013/