How much did things cost in 1952 - USA?

Prices have risen considerably since 1952. This table gives you an idea of how prices have changed since 1952.

Many things were much cheaper: houses, cars, posting a letter and cigarettes.

These are some prices of items in 1952.

	1952 price	Inflation adjusted
Average house price (1)	$10,022	$110,000
Gallon of gas	27c	$2.80
Chevrolet Deluxe car	$1,749	$18,000
Ford Mainline Fordor Sedan	$1,530	$16,000
Average used car selling price (2)	$950	$10,000
Du Mont 15" television	$119.5	$1,300
RCA Victor 21" console television in mahogany case	$338.50	$3,600
Zenith Pacemaker 3-way portable radio (without battery)	$39.95	$420
General Electric clock radio	$28.64	$300
Motorola portable AC-DC radio (without battery)	$32.95	$350
20 cigarettes (average price) (3)	21c	$2.20
Posting a letter	3c	32c
Newspaper: The New York Times	5c	53c
Hamburger at McDonald's	15c	$1.60
Flour (5lb)	52c	$5.50
Bread (per lb)	16c	$1.70
Road steak (lb)	$1.09	$11
Chuck roast (lb)	74c	$7.80
Pork chops (lb)	80c	$8.40
Bacon (lb)	65c	$6.80
Butter (lb)	86c	$9
Eggs (dozen)	67c	$7
Milk (½ gallon)	48c	$5
Oranges (dozen)	51c	$5.40
Potatoes (10lb)	76c	$8
Canned tomatoes (No. 303 can)	15c	$1.60
Navy beans (lb)	16c	$1.70
Coffee (lb)	87c	$9.10
Margarine (lb)	29c	$3
Sugar (5lb)	52c	$5.50

References

(1) Median family home price from "7th Annual Report of the Federal Housing Administration", 1953 page 240

(2) 'Automobile Facts and Figures' published by the Automobile Manufacturers Association, 1956, page 17

(3) 'Annual Report on Tobacco Statistics, 1959', published by the US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, page 50