$100 in 1971 is worth $437 in 2001,
because prices increased 337.3% over that period, an average of
5.04% a year.
$100 in 1971 has
the same buying power as
$437
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
337.3%
Average inflation rate
5.04% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$437
Price difference ($100 base)
$337
CPI in 1971
40.5
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1971
4.38%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1971 → 2001
$437
$100 in 2001 → 1971
$22.87
What happened to prices between 1971 and 2001
Between 1971 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 40.5 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 337.3%, which works out to an average of
5.04% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1971 bought what
$0.23 buys in 2001: the 1971 dollar
lost 77.1% of its purchasing power over
these 30 years.
Consumer prices rose 4.4% in 1971, down from 1970’s 5.7% as
the recession that started in December 1969 finally cooled demand. The bigger
economic story came that August 15, when President Nixon closed the “gold
window” that let foreign governments exchange dollars for gold, ending the
Bretton Woods system that had anchored the dollar since World War II. The
same address announced a 90-day freeze on wages and prices, the first
peacetime controls the country had seen, an attempt to break inflationary
expectations without the slower grind of tighter money. The “Nixon Shock,” as
it came to be known, let the dollar float against other currencies for the
first time and set the stage for a wage-and-price-control regime that would
run in various forms into 1973. Politically, the country lowered its voting
age that year: the 26th Amendment, ratified July 1, extended the vote to
18-year-olds, capping a campaign built on the argument that men old enough to
be drafted to Vietnam were old enough to vote for the people who sent them.
The Postal Service, independent since 1970’s reorganization, raised
first-class postage from 6 to 8 cents that May. A median household earned
$9,028 in 1971, up from $8,734 the year before, while gas held near 36 cents
a gallon and a new home sold for a median $25,200. Consumer prices stood
309.1% above their 1913 level by year’s end, still years away
from the double-digit inflation the controls were meant to prevent.
Every 1971 amount converts to 2001 at the same ratio, 4.37: $1,000 becomes
$4,373, and $10,000 becomes $43,728.
Amount in 1971
Value in 2001
$1.00
$4.37
$5.00
$21.86
$10.00
$43.73
$20.00
$87.46
$50.00
$219
$100
$437
$500
$2,186
$1,000
$4,373
$5,000
$21,864
$10,000
$43,728
$100,000
$437,284
$1,000,000
$4,372,840
Inflation by spending category, 1971–2001
Between 1971 and 2001, medical care rose the most, up 655.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 108.3%, against 337.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1971
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1971 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.04%
$437
Medical care
6.97%
$756
Energy
5.43%
$488
Housing
5.25%
$464
Core (all items less food & energy)
5.03%
$436
Food
4.97%
$428
Transportation
4.65%
$391
Apparel
2.48%
$208
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1971: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1971 to 2001
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.21% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1971–2001 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1971, at end
1971–1980
8.21%
103.5%
$203
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$323
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$425
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$437
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1971
$100 from 1971 had already become $271 by
1986, on its way to $437 in 2001; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 13.5% in 1980, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1971 had the buying
power of $437; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1971 to 2001: $100 is worth $437 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1971-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1971 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1971-to-2001/