$100 in 1972 is worth $145 in 1977,
because prices increased 45.0% over that period, an average of
7.71% a year.
$100 in 1972 has
the same buying power as
$145
in 1977
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
45.0%
Average inflation rate
7.71% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$145
Price difference ($100 base)
$44.98
CPI in 1972
41.8
CPI in 1977
60.6
Inflation in 1972
3.21%
Inflation in 1977
6.50%
$100 in 1972 → 1977
$145
$100 in 1977 → 1972
$68.98
What happened to prices between 1972 and 1977
Between 1972 and 1977, the Consumer Price Index went from 41.8 to 60.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 45.0%, which works out to an average of
7.71% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1972 bought what
$0.69 buys in 1977: the 1972 dollar
lost 31.0% of its purchasing power over
these 5 years.
Consumer prices rose just 3.2% in 1972, the calmest year of the decade and a
sharp break from the previous two years. The relief was largely engineered:
Nixon’s wage and price controls, imposed as a 90-day freeze in August 1971,
had settled into a series of “phases” that capped how much businesses could
raise prices through the election year. Economists would later argue the
controls mostly deferred inflation rather than curing it, storing up pressure
that broke loose once they were lifted. Nixon spent political capital on
foreign policy that year, traveling to Beijing that February in the first
visit by a sitting U.S. president to the People’s Republic of China, a trip
that began normalizing relations Washington had frozen since 1949. Closer to
home, five men were arrested breaking into the Democratic National
Committee’s offices at the Watergate complex that June 17, an event that drew
little attention at the time but would eventually force Nixon from office.
None of it dented his re-election bid: Nixon carried 49 states against
Democrat George McGovern that November, helped by an economy that, on paper,
looked more stable than it had in years. A median household earned $9,697 in
1972, a new home sold for a median $27,600, and gas held near 36 cents a
gallon for a third straight year. Consumer prices stood 322.2% above their
1913 level, a lull that would not survive contact with the
controls’ expiration and the oil shock still to come.
Every 1972 amount converts to 1977 at the same ratio, 1.45: $1,000 becomes
$1,450, and $10,000 becomes $14,498.
Amount in 1972
Value in 1977
$1.00
$1.45
$5.00
$7.25
$10.00
$14.50
$20.00
$29.00
$50.00
$72.49
$100
$145
$500
$725
$1,000
$1,450
$5,000
$7,249
$10,000
$14,498
$100,000
$144,976
$1,000,000
$1,449,761
Inflation by spending category, 1972–1977
Between 1972 and 1977, energy rose the most, up 81.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 26.2%, against 45.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1972
spending costs in 1977, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1972 →
All items (CPI-U)
7.71%
$145
Energy
12.68%
$182
Food
9.24%
$156
Medical care
8.85%
$153
Transportation
8.14%
$148
Housing
7.82%
$146
Core (all items less food & energy)
6.75%
$139
Apparel
4.76%
$126
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1972: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1972
$100 from 1972 had already become $118 by
1974, on its way to $145 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 the smallest rise was 5.8% in 1976.
In 1977, prices rose 6.5% and $100 from 1972 had the buying
power of $145; 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 1972 to 1977: $100 is worth $145 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1972-to-1977/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1972 to 1977. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1972-to-1977/