$100 in 1951 is worth $233 in 1977,
because prices increased 133.1% over that period, an average of
3.31% a year.
$100 in 1951 has
the same buying power as
$233
in 1977
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
133.1%
Average inflation rate
3.31% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$233
Price difference ($100 base)
$133
CPI in 1951
26
CPI in 1977
60.6
Inflation in 1951
7.88%
Inflation in 1977
6.50%
$100 in 1951 → 1977
$233
$100 in 1977 → 1951
$42.90
What happened to prices between 1951 and 1977
Between 1951 and 1977, the Consumer Price Index went from 26 to 60.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 133.1%, which works out to an average of
3.31% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1951 bought what
$0.43 buys in 1977: the 1951 dollar
lost 57.1% of its purchasing power over
these 26 years.
Consumer prices rose 7.9% in 1951, up sharply from 1950’s
1.3% and the fastest increase since 1947, as Korean War buying and a
defense spending surge hit an economy still adjusting to peacetime. Much
of the jump came early in the year, before the government stepped in: the
Office of Price Stabilization imposed a general ceiling on prices January
26, and the Wage Stabilization Board froze wages soon after, the broadest
peacetime controls since the war began that June. The year’s more lasting
change came in monetary policy. On March 4, the Treasury and the Federal
Reserve signed the Accord, ending the Fed’s wartime obligation to hold
down interest rates on government bonds and freeing the central bank to
fight inflation on its own terms for the first time since 1942, a shift
that would shape Fed independence for decades. Congress raised taxes that
October to help pay for the war: the Revenue Act of 1951, signed October
20, lifted individual and corporate income taxes along with a range of
excise taxes, the third increase in taxes since fighting began in Korea.
Consumer prices finished 1951 162.6% above their 1913
level. First-class postage held at 3 cents, and the minimum wage stayed at
75 cents an hour.
Every 1951 amount converts to 1977 at the same ratio, 2.33: $1,000 becomes
$2,331, and $10,000 becomes $23,308.
Amount in 1951
Value in 1977
$1.00
$2.33
$5.00
$11.65
$10.00
$23.31
$20.00
$46.62
$50.00
$117
$100
$233
$500
$1,165
$1,000
$2,331
$5,000
$11,654
$10,000
$23,308
$100,000
$233,077
$1,000,000
$2,330,769
Inflation by spending category, 1951–1977
Between 1951 and 1977, medical care rose the most, up 258.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 79.0%, against 133.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1951
spending costs in 1977, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1951 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.31%
$233
Medical care
5.03%
$358
Transportation
3.50%
$245
Food
3.29%
$232
Apparel
2.27%
$179
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1951: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1951 to 1977
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.58% a year, and slowest in the 1950s (1.45% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1951–1977 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1951, at end
1951–1960
1.45%
13.8%
$114
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$149
1970–1977
6.58%
56.2%
$233
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1951
$100 from 1951 had already become $119 by
1964, on its way to $233 in 1977; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 11.0% in 1974, and prices fell 0.4% in 1955, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 1977, prices rose 6.5% and $100 from 1951 had the buying
power of $233; 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 1951 to 1977: $100 is worth $233 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1951-to-1977/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1951 to 1977. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1951-to-1977/