$100 in 1927 is worth $283 in 1974,
because prices increased 183.3% over that period, an average of
2.24% a year.
$100 in 1927 has
the same buying power as
$283
in 1974
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
183.3%
Average inflation rate
2.24% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$283
Price difference ($100 base)
$183
CPI in 1927
17.4
CPI in 1974
49.3
Inflation in 1927
-1.69%
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
$100 in 1927 → 1974
$283
$100 in 1974 → 1927
$35.29
What happened to prices between 1927 and 1974
Between 1927 and 1974, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.4 to 49.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 183.3%, which works out to an average of
2.24% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1927 bought what
$0.35 buys in 1974: the 1927 dollar
lost 64.7% of its purchasing power over
these 47 years.
Consumer prices fell 1.7% in 1927, a mild retreat after three years of
gradual increases and part of a shallow up-and-down pattern that ran through
the second half of the decade. Aviation delivered the year’s signature
moment: Charles Lindbergh departed Roosevelt Field, New York, on May 20 and
landed at Le Bourget Field outside Paris roughly 33.5 hours later, the first
person to fly the Atlantic solo and nonstop. Detroit closed a chapter of its
own that May, when Ford halted the Model T’s production line after nearly 19
years and more than 15 million cars sold, idling tens of thousands of
workers while its factories retooled for the Model A. The Federal Reserve,
meeting with European central bankers that summer, cut its discount rate to
ease pressure on currencies still recovering from the war, a move later
cited by economists including Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz as fuel for
the stock market speculation that built through the following two years.
First-class postage held at 2 cents.
Every 1927 amount converts to 1974 at the same ratio, 2.83: $1,000 becomes
$2,833, and $10,000 becomes $28,333.
Amount in 1927
Value in 1974
$1.00
$2.83
$5.00
$14.17
$10.00
$28.33
$20.00
$56.67
$50.00
$142
$100
$283
$500
$1,417
$1,000
$2,833
$5,000
$14,167
$10,000
$28,333
$100,000
$283,333
$1,000,000
$2,833,333
Inflation by spending category, 1927–1974
Between 1927 and 1974, food rose the most, up 236.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 174.3%, against 183.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1927
spending costs in 1974, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1927 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.24%
$283
Food
2.61%
$336
Apparel
2.17%
$274
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1927: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1927 to 1974
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.17% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1927–1974 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1927, at end
1927–1930
-1.36%
-4.0%
$95.98
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$80.46
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$139
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$170
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$223
1970–1974
6.17%
27.1%
$283
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1927
$100 from 1927 had already become $149 by
1951, on its way to $283 in 1974; 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: 1974
In 1974, prices rose 11.0% and $100 from 1927 had the buying
power of $283; the year's average CPI of 49.3 is the level
behind every 1974 figure on this page.
1974 was the year the postwar economy broke its old rules. Consumer prices
rose 11.0%, the fastest annual increase since 1947, as the Arab oil embargo
that ran from October 1973 to March 1974 roughly quadrupled the price of
crude oil worldwide. Gasoline, which had averaged 38.5 cents a gallon in
1973, jumped to 53.2 cents, and shortages forced many states into odd-even
rationing at the pump. Nixon’s wage and price controls, in place in some form
since 1971, expired at the end of April, removing the last brake on prices
just as the oil shock hit. Nixon himself resigned in August over Watergate,
and Gerald Ford’s response to inflation, a voluntary “Whip Inflation Now”
campaign built around lapel buttons, became a symbol of how little
conventional politics could do against the problem. Prices kept climbing even
as the economy weakened: a recession that started in November 1973 dragged
on, the Dow fell to a bear-market bottom of 577.60 in December, and
unemployment was already rising toward the 9% it would reach in 1975. The
combination of rising prices and a shrinking economy gave the decade its
name: stagflation.
MLA: “Inflation from 1927 to 1974: $100 is worth $283 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-1974/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1927 to 1974. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-1974/