$100 in 1973 is worth $361 in 1997,
because prices increased 261.5% over that period, an average of
5.50% a year.
$100 in 1973 has
the same buying power as
$361
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
261.5%
Average inflation rate
5.50% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$361
Price difference ($100 base)
$261
CPI in 1973
44.4
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1973
6.22%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1973 → 1997
$361
$100 in 1997 → 1973
$27.66
What happened to prices between 1973 and 1997
Between 1973 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 44.4 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 261.5%, which works out to an average of
5.50% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1973 bought what
$0.28 buys in 1997: the 1973 dollar
lost 72.3% of its purchasing power over
these 24 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 1997 at the same ratio, 3.61: $1,000 becomes
$3,615, and $10,000 becomes $36,149.
Amount in 1973
Value in 1997
$1.00
$3.61
$5.00
$18.07
$10.00
$36.15
$20.00
$72.30
$50.00
$181
$100
$361
$500
$1,807
$1,000
$3,615
$5,000
$18,074
$10,000
$36,149
$100,000
$361,486
$1,000,000
$3,614,865
Inflation by spending category, 1973–1997
Between 1973 and 1997, medical care rose the most, up 504.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 105.7%, against 261.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1973
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1973 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.50%
$361
Medical care
7.79%
$605
Housing
5.73%
$381
Energy
5.71%
$379
Core (all items less food & energy)
5.62%
$372
Transportation
5.36%
$350
Food
5.05%
$326
Apparel
3.05%
$206
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1973: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1973 to 1997
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 9.24% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.98% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1973–1997 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1973, at end
1973–1980
9.24%
85.6%
$186
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$294
1990–1997
2.98%
22.8%
$361
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1973
$100 from 1973 had already become $242 by
1985, on its way to $361 in 1997; 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 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1973 had the buying
power of $361; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1973 to 1997: $100 is worth $361 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1973 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-1997/