Remember The Year
Home › Your year › 1948

1948: what things cost, the #1 song and more

In 1948, a half-gallon of milk was 44¢ and a stamp was 3¢. If you were born in 1948, you turn 78 in 2026. Here's how 1948 prices compare with today.

Born in
1948
Baby Boomer
🥛Milk (½ gal)44¢Today: $2.05
🥚Eggs72¢Today: $2.27
🍞Bread14¢Today: $1.83
☕Coffee51¢Today: $9.33
✉️Stamp3¢Today: 82¢
⏱️Minimum wage40¢Today: $7.25
🧰Factory pay$1.21Today: $30.21
🎵 #1 song: “Twelfth Street Rag”
Pee Wee Hunt

Prices in 1948 vs. today

“In today's money” adjusts the 1948 price for inflation (CPI-U, Sep 2026). If today's price is higher than that, the item really did get more expensive, not just the dollar.

Item1948In today's moneyToday
🥛 Half-gallon of whole milkper half-gallon44¢$6.11$2.05
+371%
🥚 Dozen large eggsper dozen72¢$10.13$2.27
+214%
🍞 Loaf of white breadper pound14¢$1.95$1.83
+1,217%
☕ Pound of ground coffeeper pound51¢$7.20$9.33
+1,716%
✉️ First-class postage stampper letter3¢42¢82¢
+2,633%
⏱️ Federal minimum wageper hour40¢$5.61$7.25
+1,712%
🧰 Average factory worker's hourly payper hour, manufacturing production workers$1.21$16.90$30.21
+2,405%
🥓 Pound of baconper pound77¢$10.78$6.76
+779%
🍌 Pound of bananasper pound16¢$2.2366¢
+313%
🍬 Pound of white sugarper pound9.4¢$1.32$1.02
+984%
🌾 Pound of flourper pound9.8¢$1.3755¢
+456%

1948 at a glance

Turning this year78 years old
GenerationBaby Boomer
PresidentHarry S. Truman
U.S. population146.6 million
$1 back then is worth$14.01 today
🎵
Song of the year
“Twelfth Street Rag”
Pee Wee Hunt · Billboard Year-End #1

Questions people ask about 1948

How much was a postage stamp in 1948?

A first-class stamp cost 3¢ in 1948. Today it costs 82¢.

What was the minimum wage in 1948?

The federal minimum wage was 40¢ an hour in 1948, worth about $5.61 an hour today. It has been $7.25 since July 2009.

How much was milk in 1948?

A half-gallon of whole milk averaged 44¢ in 1948. Today: $2.05.

How much were eggs in 1948?

A dozen large Grade A eggs averaged 72¢ in 1948. Today: $2.27.

What was the #1 song of 1948?

Billboard's top song of 1948 was “Twelfth Street Rag” by Pee Wee Hunt.

How much is $1 from 1948 worth today?

$1 in 1948 buys about as much as $14.01 did in Sep 2026, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U).

← 19471949 →

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data (U.S. city average) (from 1980); Before 1980: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics retail food prices as published by the U.S. Census Bureau (Historical Statistics of the United States, Series E 187–202, and the Statistical Abstract of the United States); U.S. Postal Service rate history (rate in effect July 1); U.S. Department of Labor (rate in effect July 1); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics; Billboard Year-End Hot 100. How we calculate these.