$100 in 1964 is worth $774 in 2016,
because prices increased 674.2% over that period, an average of
4.01% a year.
$100 in 1964 has
the same buying power as
$774
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
674.2%
Average inflation rate
4.01% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$774
Price difference ($100 base)
$674
CPI in 1964
31
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1964
1.31%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1964 → 2016
$774
$100 in 2016 → 1964
$12.92
What happened to prices between 1964 and 2016
Between 1964 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 31 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 674.2%, which works out to an average of
4.01% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1964 bought what
$0.13 buys in 2016: the 1964 dollar
lost 87.1% of its purchasing power over
these 52 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 2016 at the same ratio, 7.74: $1,000 becomes
$7,742, and $10,000 becomes $77,422.
Amount in 1964
Value in 2016
$1.00
$7.74
$5.00
$38.71
$10.00
$77.42
$20.00
$155
$50.00
$387
$100
$774
$500
$3,871
$1,000
$7,742
$5,000
$38,711
$10,000
$77,422
$100,000
$774,216
$1,000,000
$7,742,161
Inflation by spending category, 1964–2016
Between 1964 and 2016, medical care rose the most, up 1784.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 166.5%, against 674.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1964
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1964 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.01%
$774
Medical care
5.81%
$1,885
Energy
4.18%
$842
Food
4.05%
$787
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.99%
$767
Transportation
3.57%
$621
Apparel
1.90%
$266
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1964: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1964 to 2016
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1964–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$774
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1964
$100 from 1964 had already become $422 by
1990, on its way to $774 in 2016; 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: 2016
In 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1964 had the buying
power of $774; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1964 to 2016: $100 is worth $774 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1964-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1964 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1964-to-2016/