$100 in 1973 is worth $388 in 2000,
because prices increased 287.8% over that period, an average of
5.15% a year.
$100 in 1973 has
the same buying power as
$388
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
287.8%
Average inflation rate
5.15% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$388
Price difference ($100 base)
$288
CPI in 1973
44.4
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1973
6.22%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1973 → 2000
$388
$100 in 2000 → 1973
$25.78
What happened to prices between 1973 and 2000
Between 1973 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 44.4 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 287.8%, which works out to an average of
5.15% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1973 bought what
$0.26 buys in 2000: the 1973 dollar
lost 74.2% of its purchasing power over
these 27 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 2000 at the same ratio, 3.88: $1,000 becomes
$3,878, and $10,000 becomes $38,784.
Amount in 1973
Value in 2000
$1.00
$3.88
$5.00
$19.39
$10.00
$38.78
$20.00
$77.57
$50.00
$194
$100
$388
$500
$1,939
$1,000
$3,878
$5,000
$19,392
$10,000
$38,784
$100,000
$387,838
$1,000,000
$3,878,378
Inflation by spending category, 1973–2000
Between 1973 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 572.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 100.6%, against 287.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1973
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1973 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.15%
$388
Medical care
7.31%
$672
Energy
5.49%
$424
Housing
5.38%
$412
Core (all items less food & energy)
5.24%
$398
Transportation
4.99%
$372
Food
4.73%
$348
Apparel
2.61%
$201
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1973: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1973 to 2000
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 9.24% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1973–2000 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$388
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1973
$100 from 1973 had already become $247 by
1986, on its way to $388 in 2000; 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 1.6% in 1998.
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1973 had the buying
power of $388; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1973 to 2000: $100 is worth $388 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1973 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-2000/