$100 in 1973 is worth $136 in 1977,
because prices increased 36.5% over that period, an average of
8.09% a year.
$100 in 1973 has
the same buying power as
$136
in 1977
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
36.5%
Average inflation rate
8.09% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$136
Price difference ($100 base)
$36.49
CPI in 1973
44.4
CPI in 1977
60.6
Inflation in 1973
6.22%
Inflation in 1977
6.50%
$100 in 1973 → 1977
$136
$100 in 1977 → 1973
$73.27
What happened to prices between 1973 and 1977
Between 1973 and 1977, the Consumer Price Index went from 44.4 to 60.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 36.5%, which works out to an average of
8.09% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1973 bought what
$0.73 buys in 1977: the 1973 dollar
lost 26.7% of its purchasing power over
these 4 years.
Consumer prices rose 6.2% in 1973, nearly double 1972’s 3.2%,
as Nixon’s wage and price controls were phased out through the year and
pressure the controls had been holding back broke loose. The bigger shock
arrived that October, when Arab oil-producing states embargoed exports to the
United States and other supporters of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Crude
oil, which had traded around $3 a barrel, approached $12 by early 1974, and
gas lines became a fixture outside filling stations nationwide. Earlier in
the year, the Paris Peace Accords, signed that January 27, ended direct
American combat in Vietnam and set a 60-day deadline for withdrawing
remaining U.S. troops, even as fighting between North and South Vietnam went
on. Financial markets read the year correctly as a turning point: the Dow
Jones Industrial Average peaked at 1,051.70 on January 11, a level it would
not reach again until 1980, before the oil shock and rising interest rates
dragged it into a two-year bear market. A median household earned $10,512 in
1973, a new home sold for a median $32,500, and gas averaged 38.5 cents a
gallon, still under half of what the embargo’s effects would bring the
following year. Consumer prices stood 348.5% above their
1913 level by year’s end, with the decade’s worst inflation
still ahead.
Every 1973 amount converts to 1977 at the same ratio, 1.36: $1,000 becomes
$1,365, and $10,000 becomes $13,649.
Amount in 1973
Value in 1977
$1.00
$1.36
$5.00
$6.82
$10.00
$13.65
$20.00
$27.30
$50.00
$68.24
$100
$136
$500
$682
$1,000
$1,365
$5,000
$6,824
$10,000
$13,649
$100,000
$136,486
$1,000,000
$1,364,865
Inflation by spending category, 1973–1977
Between 1973 and 1977, energy rose the most, up 68.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 21.7%, against 36.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1973
spending costs in 1977, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1973 →
All items (CPI-U)
8.09%
$136
Energy
13.85%
$168
Medical care
10.09%
$147
Transportation
9.39%
$143
Housing
8.64%
$139
Food
7.97%
$136
Core (all items less food & energy)
7.55%
$134
Apparel
5.03%
$122
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1973: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1973
$100 from 1973 had already become $121 by
1975, on its way to $136 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 1973 had the buying
power of $136; 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 1973 to 1977: $100 is worth $136 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-1977/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1973 to 1977. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-1977/