$100 in 1959 has the buying power of $1,157.87 in September 2026. Prices are 1,057.9% higher, an average of 3.71% a year, by the official Consumer Price Index (CPI-U): 1959's average index was 29.1 and September 2026's is 336.940. Put the other way, $100 in September 2026 buys what $8.64 did in 1959.
Inflation in 1959 was 0.7% (the change in the year's average CPI from 1958; December to December, 1.7%), the 19th lowest of the 112 years since 1914.
| Year | Average CPI-U | Inflation | $100 then is worth today |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 1962 | 30.2 | +1.0% | $1,115.70 |
| 1963 | 30.6 | +1.3% | $1,101.11 |
| 1964 | 31.0 | +1.3% | $1,086.90 |
3.71% a year, compounded from the middle of 1959 to September 2026: prices are 1,057.9% higher in all, so a dollar from 1959 is worth $11.58 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.
1958 · Inflation calculator, any month since 1913 · 1960
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.