$100 in 1973 is worth $399 in 2001,
because prices increased 298.9% over that period, an average of
5.07% a year.
$100 in 1973 has
the same buying power as
$399
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
298.9%
Average inflation rate
5.07% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$399
Price difference ($100 base)
$299
CPI in 1973
44.4
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1973
6.22%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1973 → 2001
$399
$100 in 2001 → 1973
$25.07
What happened to prices between 1973 and 2001
Between 1973 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 44.4 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 298.9%, which works out to an average of
5.07% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1973 bought what
$0.25 buys in 2001: the 1973 dollar
lost 74.9% of its purchasing power over
these 28 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 2001 at the same ratio, 3.99: $1,000 becomes
$3,989, and $10,000 becomes $39,887.
Amount in 1973
Value in 2001
$1.00
$3.99
$5.00
$19.94
$10.00
$39.89
$20.00
$79.77
$50.00
$199
$100
$399
$500
$1,994
$1,000
$3,989
$5,000
$19,944
$10,000
$39,887
$100,000
$398,874
$1,000,000
$3,988,739
Inflation by spending category, 1973–2001
Between 1973 and 2001, medical care rose the most, up 603.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 97.1%, against 298.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1973
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1973 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.07%
$399
Medical care
7.21%
$703
Energy
5.43%
$440
Housing
5.33%
$428
Core (all items less food & energy)
5.15%
$408
Transportation
4.83%
$375
Food
4.67%
$359
Apparel
2.45%
$197
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1973: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1973 to 2001
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 1973–2001 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
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$399
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1973
$100 from 1973 had already become $256 by
1987, on its way to $399 in 2001; 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 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1973 had the buying
power of $399; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1973 to 2001: $100 is worth $399 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1973 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-2001/