$100 in 1971 is worth $575 in 2013,
because prices increased 475.2% over that period, an average of
4.25% a year.
$100 in 1971 has
the same buying power as
$575
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
475.2%
Average inflation rate
4.25% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$575
Price difference ($100 base)
$475
CPI in 1971
40.5
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1971
4.38%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1971 → 2013
$575
$100 in 2013 → 1971
$17.39
What happened to prices between 1971 and 2013
Between 1971 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 40.5 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 475.2%, which works out to an average of
4.25% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1971 bought what
$0.17 buys in 2013: the 1971 dollar
lost 82.6% of its purchasing power over
these 42 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 2013 at the same ratio, 5.75: $1,000 becomes
$5,752, and $10,000 becomes $57,520.
Amount in 1971
Value in 2013
$1.00
$5.75
$5.00
$28.76
$10.00
$57.52
$20.00
$115
$50.00
$288
$100
$575
$500
$2,876
$1,000
$5,752
$5,000
$28,760
$10,000
$57,520
$100,000
$575,202
$1,000,000
$5,752,025
Inflation by spending category, 1971–2013
Between 1971 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 1077.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 108.5%, against 475.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1971
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1971 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.25%
$575
Medical care
6.05%
$1,178
Energy
5.43%
$922
Housing
4.35%
$598
Food
4.30%
$587
Transportation
4.14%
$550
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.13%
$548
Apparel
1.77%
$209
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1971: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1971 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.21% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1971–2013 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$538
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$575
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1971
$100 from 1971 had already become $336 by
1991, on its way to $575 in 2013; 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 prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1971 had the buying
power of $575; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1971 to 2013: $100 is worth $575 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1971-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1971 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1971-to-2013/