What is $1 from 1959 worth today?
$1 in 1959 is worth $11.58 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 1058% since 1959, an average of 3.71% a year over 67 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 3.5 times, and a dollar today buys 8.6% of what it bought in 1959.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1959 is worth $231.57, $100 is worth $1,158 and $1,000 is worth $11,579 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1959
The CPI-U averaged 29.1 in 1959, up 0.7% from 28.9 in 1958. From December 1958 to December 1959, prices rose 1.7%. Ranked by annual inflation, 1959 is number 96 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.
1959 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1959 money
If something cost $5 in 1959, the same buying power today is $57.89. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $8.64 bought in 1959, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $5,182 salary in 1959.
If your pay in 1959 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $11,579 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 1959 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1959 annual average (29.1): 336.94 ÷ 29.1 = 11.5787. Multiply any 1959 amount by 11.5787 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 1959 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1958 and $1 in 1960. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.