$100 in 1927 is worth $348 in 1977,
because prices increased 248.3% over that period, an average of
2.53% a year.
$100 in 1927 has
the same buying power as
$348
in 1977
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
248.3%
Average inflation rate
2.53% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$348
Price difference ($100 base)
$248
CPI in 1927
17.4
CPI in 1977
60.6
Inflation in 1927
-1.69%
Inflation in 1977
6.50%
$100 in 1927 → 1977
$348
$100 in 1977 → 1927
$28.71
What happened to prices between 1927 and 1977
Between 1927 and 1977, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.4 to 60.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 248.3%, which works out to an average of
2.53% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1927 bought what
$0.29 buys in 1977: the 1927 dollar
lost 71.3% of its purchasing power over
these 50 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 1977 at the same ratio, 3.48: $1,000 becomes
$3,483, and $10,000 becomes $34,828.
Amount in 1927
Value in 1977
$1.00
$3.48
$5.00
$17.41
$10.00
$34.83
$20.00
$69.66
$50.00
$174
$100
$348
$500
$1,741
$1,000
$3,483
$5,000
$17,414
$10,000
$34,828
$100,000
$348,276
$1,000,000
$3,482,759
Inflation by spending category, 1927–1977
Between 1927 and 1977, food rose the most, up 299.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 210.7%, against 248.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1927
spending costs in 1977, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1927 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.53%
$348
Food
2.81%
$399
Apparel
2.29%
$311
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 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 1927–1977 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
1970–1977
6.58%
56.2%
$348
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1927
$100 from 1927 had already become $149 by
1951, on its way to $348 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 1927 had the buying
power of $348; 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 1927 to 1977: $100 is worth $348 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-1977/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1927 to 1977. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-1977/