$100 in 1973 is worth $485 in 2008,
because prices increased 384.9% over that period, an average of
4.61% a year.
$100 in 1973 has
the same buying power as
$485
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
384.9%
Average inflation rate
4.61% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$485
Price difference ($100 base)
$385
CPI in 1973
44.4
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1973
6.22%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1973 → 2008
$485
$100 in 2008 → 1973
$20.62
What happened to prices between 1973 and 2008
Between 1973 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 44.4 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 384.9%, which works out to an average of
4.61% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1973 bought what
$0.21 buys in 2008: the 1973 dollar
lost 79.4% of its purchasing power over
these 35 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 2008 at the same ratio, 4.85: $1,000 becomes
$4,849, and $10,000 becomes $48,492.
Amount in 1973
Value in 2008
$1.00
$4.85
$5.00
$24.25
$10.00
$48.49
$20.00
$96.98
$50.00
$242
$100
$485
$500
$2,425
$1,000
$4,849
$5,000
$24,246
$10,000
$48,492
$100,000
$484,917
$1,000,000
$4,849,167
Inflation by spending category, 1973–2008
Between 1973 and 2008, medical care rose the most, up 838.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 84.1%, against 384.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1973
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1973 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.61%
$485
Medical care
6.61%
$938
Energy
6.14%
$805
Housing
4.85%
$525
Transportation
4.55%
$475
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.54%
$473
Food
4.35%
$444
Apparel
1.76%
$184
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1973: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1973 to 2008
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 1973–2008 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
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$485
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1973
$100 from 1973 had already become $307 by
1991, on its way to $485 in 2008; 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.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2008
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1973 had the buying
power of $485; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1973 to 2008: $100 is worth $485 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1973 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-2008/