$100 in 1925 is worth $346 in 1977,
because prices increased 246.3% over that period, an average of
2.42% a year.
$100 in 1925 has
the same buying power as
$346
in 1977
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
246.3%
Average inflation rate
2.42% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$346
Price difference ($100 base)
$246
CPI in 1925
17.5
CPI in 1977
60.6
Inflation in 1925
2.34%
Inflation in 1977
6.50%
$100 in 1925 → 1977
$346
$100 in 1977 → 1925
$28.88
What happened to prices between 1925 and 1977
Between 1925 and 1977, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.5 to 60.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 246.3%, which works out to an average of
2.42% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1925 bought what
$0.29 buys in 1977: the 1925 dollar
lost 71.1% of its purchasing power over
these 52 years.
Consumer prices rose 2.3% in 1925, the CPI’s largest single-year increase
since the deflationary swings of the early 1920s, though still mild next to
the double-digit inflation of the World War I years. The country’s cultural
fault lines were on full display that summer in Dayton, Tennessee, where
high school teacher John Scopes was tried July 10-21 for violating a state
law against teaching evolution, a case that drew national press coverage and
pitted prosecutor William Jennings Bryan against defense attorney Clarence
Darrow. Real estate speculation, meanwhile, peaked in Florida, where buyers
flipped undeveloped land in the Miami area on thin down payments, driving
prices far above what the land itself could support; the bubble would
collapse the following year. Detroit reshuffled that June too: Walter
Chrysler reorganized the struggling Maxwell Motor Company into Chrysler
Corporation, the start of what would become one of the American auto
industry’s “Big Three.” First-class postage held at 2 cents for the sixth
straight year.
Every 1925 amount converts to 1977 at the same ratio, 3.46: $1,000 becomes
$3,463, and $10,000 becomes $34,629.
Amount in 1925
Value in 1977
$1.00
$3.46
$5.00
$17.31
$10.00
$34.63
$20.00
$69.26
$50.00
$173
$100
$346
$500
$1,731
$1,000
$3,463
$5,000
$17,314
$10,000
$34,629
$100,000
$346,286
$1,000,000
$3,462,857
Inflation by spending category, 1925–1977
Between 1925 and 1977, food rose the most, up 297.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 198.9%, against 246.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1925
spending costs in 1977, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1925 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.42%
$346
Food
2.69%
$397
Apparel
2.13%
$299
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1925: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1925 to 1977
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.58% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1925–1977 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1925, at end
1925–1930
-0.93%
-4.6%
$95.43
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$80.00
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$138
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$169
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$222
1970–1977
6.58%
56.2%
$346
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1925
$100 from 1925 had already become $149 by
1951, on its way to $346 in 1977; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 14.4% in 1947, and prices fell 9.9% in 1932, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1977
In 1977, prices rose 6.5% and $100 from 1925 had the buying
power of $346; the year's average CPI of 60.6 is the level
behind every 1977 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 6.5% in 1977, ticking back up from 1976’s
5.8% as the economic recovery strengthened, wages climbed, and energy costs
pushed higher again. The year opened with a warning about that energy
dependence: record cold across the Midwest and Northeast in January and
February strained natural gas supplies so badly that schools and factories in
several states shut down for days to conserve fuel. Jimmy Carter, inaugurated
that January, made energy policy a centerpiece of his presidency, and
Congress created the cabinet-level Department of Energy that August to
consolidate programs built up piecemeal since the 1973 oil embargo. Culture
offered some relief from the anxiety: released that May, Star Wars became the
highest-grossing film in history to that point, drawing lines around theater
blocks for months. The year also closed an era in a different way. Elvis
Presley was found dead at his Graceland home on August 16 at age 42, drawing
tens of thousands of mourners to Memphis. A median household earned $13,572
in 1977, a new home sold for a median $48,800, and gas averaged 62 cents a
gallon. Consumer prices stood 512.1% above their 1913 level,
with the energy anxieties of the year setting up the harder shocks of 1978
and 1979.
MLA: “Inflation from 1925 to 1977: $100 is worth $346 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-1977/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1925 to 1977. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-1977/