Buying power of $2 in 1960

This chart shows calculation of buying power equivalence, often referred to as "the value of a dollar" over time for $2 in 1960 (price index tracking began in 1635).

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, each of these USD amounts below is equal in terms of what it could buy at the time:

Inflation by City

Inflation can vary widely by city, even within the United States. Here's how some cities fared in 1960 to 2019 (figures shown are purchasing power equivalents of $2):

• San Francisco, California: 4.03% average rate, $2 → $20.63, cumulative change of 931.64%
• Seattle, Washington: 3.92% average rate, $2 → $19.28, cumulative change of 864.01%
• Boston, Massachusetts: 3.88% average rate, $2 → $18.89, cumulative change of 844.30%
• New York: 3.83% average rate, $2 → $18.41, cumulative change of 820.35%
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 3.67% average rate, $2 → $16.75, cumulative change of 737.64%
• Houston, Texas: 3.63% average rate, $2 → $16.43, cumulative change of 721.64%
• Atlanta, Georgia: 3.63% average rate, $2 → $16.41, cumulative change of 720.55%
• Chicago, Illinois: 3.57% average rate, $2 → $15.87, cumulative change of 693.45%
• Detroit, Michigan: 3.57% average rate, $2 → $15.83, cumulative change of 691.32%

San Francisco, California experienced the highest rate of inflation during the 59 years between 1960 and 2019 (4.03%).

Detroit, Michigan experienced the lowest rate of inflation during the 59 years between 1960 and 2019 (3.57%).

Note that some locations showing 0% inflation may have not yet reported latest data.

Inflation by Country

Inflation can also vary widely by country. For comparison, in the UK £2.00 in 1960 would be equivalent to £45.68 in 2019, an absolute change of £43.68 and a cumulative change of 2,183.96%.

In Canada, CA$2.00 in 1960 would be equivalent to CA$16.99 in 2019, an absolute change of CA$14.99 and a cumulative change of 749.68%.

Compare these numbers to the US's overall absolute change of $15.39 and total percent change of 769.41%.

Inflation by Spending Category

CPI is the weighted combination of many categories of spending that are tracked by the government. This chart shows the average rate of inflation for select CPI categories between 1960 and 2019.

Compare these values to the overall average of 3.73% per year:

The graph below compares inflation in categories of goods over time. Click on a category such as "Food" to toggle it on or off:

For all these visualizations, it's important to note that not all categories may have been tracked since 1960. This table and charts use the earliest available data for each category.

How to Calculate Inflation Rate for $2 since 1960

This inflation calculator uses the following inflation rate formula:

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.S. CPI was 29.6 in the year 1960 and 257.346 in 2019:

$2 in 1960 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $17.39 in 2019.

To get the total inflation rate for the 59 years between 1960 and 2019, we use the following formula:

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

Alternate Measurements of Inflation

The above data describe the CPI for all items. Also of note is the Core CPI, which measures inflation for all items except for the more volatile categories of food and energy. Core inflation averaged 3.71% per year between 1960 and 2019 (vs all-CPI inflation of 3.73%), for an inflation total of 757.90%.

When using the core inflation measurement, $2 in 1960 is equivalent in buying power to $17.16 in 2019, a difference of $15.16. Recall that for All Items, the converted amount is $17.39 with a difference of $15.39.

In 1960, core inflation was 1.50%.

Comparison to S&P 500 Index

The average inflation rate of 3.73% has a compounding effect between 1960 and 2019. As noted above, this yearly inflation rate compounds to produce an overall price difference of 769.41% over 59 years.

To help put this inflation into perspective, if we had invested $2 in the S&P 500 index in 1960, our investment would be nominally worth approximately $613.73 in 2019. This is a return on investment of 30,586.32%, with an absolute return of $611.73 on top of the original $2.

These numbers are not inflation adjusted, so they are considered nominal. In order to evaluate the real return on our investment, we must calculate the return with inflation taken into account.

The compounding effect of inflation would account for 88.50% of returns ($543.14) during this period. This means the inflation-adjusted real return of our $2 investment is $68.59. You may also want to account for capital gains tax, which would take your real return down to around $58 for most people.

Information displayed above may differ slightly from other S&P 500 calculators. Minor discrepancies can occur because we use the latest CPI data for inflation, annualized inflation numbers for previous years, and we compute S&P price and dividends from January of 1960 to latest available data for 2019.

News headlines from 1960

Politics and news often influence economic performance. Here's what was happening at the time:

• Johnny Cash plays his first concert in a prison.
• The Bank of France issues new franc currency, worth 100 times the value of old francs.
• France grants independence to Cameroon (previously French Cameroon) after years of fighting.
• Guided missiles are launched for the first time from a nuclear powered submarine

Data Source & Citation

Raw data for these calculations comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index (CPI), established in 1913. Inflation data from 1665 to 1912 is sourced from a historical study conducted by political science professor Robert Sahr at Oregon State University.

» Read more about inflation and investment.