$100 in 1973 is worth $256 in 1987,
because prices increased 155.9% over that period, an average of
6.94% a year.
$100 in 1973 has
the same buying power as
$256
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
155.9%
Average inflation rate
6.94% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$256
Price difference ($100 base)
$156
CPI in 1973
44.4
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1973
6.22%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1973 → 1987
$256
$100 in 1987 → 1973
$39.08
What happened to prices between 1973 and 1987
Between 1973 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 44.4 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 155.9%, which works out to an average of
6.94% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1973 bought what
$0.39 buys in 1987: the 1973 dollar
lost 60.9% of its purchasing power over
these 14 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 1987 at the same ratio, 2.56: $1,000 becomes
$2,559, and $10,000 becomes $25,586.
Amount in 1973
Value in 1987
$1.00
$2.56
$5.00
$12.79
$10.00
$25.59
$20.00
$51.17
$50.00
$128
$100
$256
$500
$1,279
$1,000
$2,559
$5,000
$12,793
$10,000
$25,586
$100,000
$255,856
$1,000,000
$2,558,559
Inflation by spending category, 1973–1987
Between 1973 and 1987, medical care rose the most, up 235.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 71.2%, against 155.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1973
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1973 →
All items (CPI-U)
6.94%
$256
Medical care
9.03%
$335
Energy
8.20%
$301
Housing
7.55%
$277
Core (all items less food & energy)
7.04%
$259
Transportation
6.94%
$256
Food
6.31%
$235
Apparel
3.92%
$171
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1973: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1973 to 1987
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 9.24% a year, and slowest in the 1980s (4.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1973–1987 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1973, at end
1973–1980
9.24%
85.6%
$186
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$256
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1973
$100 from 1973 had already become $186 by
1980, on its way to $256 in 1987; 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 1.9% in 1986.
In 1987, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1973 had the buying
power of $256; the year's average CPI of 113.6 is the level
behind every 1987 figure on this page.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
MLA: “Inflation from 1973 to 1987: $100 is worth $256 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1973 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-1987/