What is $1 from 1950 worth today?
$1 in 1950 is worth $13.98 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 1298% since 1950, an average of 3.52% a year over 76 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 3.8 times, and a dollar today buys 7.2% of what it bought in 1950.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1950 is worth $279.62, $100 is worth $1,398 and $1,000 is worth $13,981 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1950
The CPI-U averaged 24.1 in 1950, up 1.3% from 23.8 in 1949. From December 1949 to December 1950, prices rose 5.9%. Ranked by annual inflation, 1950 is number 86 of the 112 years from 1914 to 2025.
In the 1950s, annual inflation averaged 2.0% a year. The highest rate was 7.9% in 1951 and the lowest -0.4% in 1955.
1950 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1950 money
If something cost $5 in 1950, the same buying power today is $69.90. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $7.15 bought in 1950, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $4,292 salary in 1950.
If your pay in 1950 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $13,981 a month in September 2026 to afford the same basket of goods and services. Remember that this is an average across consumer spending: some prices, such as housing, health care and tuition, have risen faster than the CPI, while others have risen more slowly.
How this 1950 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1950 annual average (24.1): 336.94 ÷ 24.1 = 13.9809. Multiply any 1950 amount by 13.9809 to convert it to September 2026 dollars. The data is the CPI for All Urban Consumers, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted (BLS series CUUR0000SA0), published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Use the calculator above to pick a specific month in 1950 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1949 and $1 in 1951. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.