$100 in 1956 has the buying power of $1,238.75 in September 2026. Prices are 1,138.8% higher, an average of 3.65% a year, by the official Consumer Price Index (CPI-U): 1956's average index was 27.2 and September 2026's is 336.940. Put the other way, $100 in September 2026 buys what $8.07 did in 1956.
Inflation in 1956 was 1.5% (the change in the year's average CPI from 1955; December to December, 3.0%), the 33rd lowest of the 112 years since 1914.
| Year | Average CPI-U | Inflation | $100 then is worth today |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 26.0 | +7.9% | $1,295.92 |
| 1952 | 26.5 | +1.9% | $1,271.47 |
| 1953 | 26.7 | +0.8% | $1,261.95 |
| 1954 | 26.9 | +0.7% | $1,252.57 |
| 1955 | 26.8 | −0.4% | $1,257.24 |
| 1956 | 27.2 | +1.5% | $1,238.75 |
| 1957 | 28.1 | +3.3% | $1,199.07 |
| 1958 | 28.9 | +2.8% | $1,165.88 |
| 1959 | 29.1 | +0.7% | $1,157.87 |
| 1960 | 29.6 | +1.7% | $1,138.31 |
| 1961 | 29.9 | +1.0% | $1,126.89 |
3.65% a year, compounded from the middle of 1956 to September 2026: prices are 1,138.8% higher in all, so a dollar from 1956 is worth $12.39 today.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), all items, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, which runs back to January 1913. A year's figure is the average of its monthly indexes, as BLS computes annual averages; today's figure is the latest month, September 2026, so the answer moves each month when BLS publishes a new CPI.
1955 · Inflation calculator, any month since 1913 · 1957
Source: BLS CPI-U, all items, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted (FRED CPIAUCNS); through 2006, BLS's official annual averages. The answer moves each month, when BLS publishes a new CPI.