$100 in 1974 is worth $184 in 1981,
because prices increased 84.4% over that period, an average of
9.13% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$184
in 1981
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
84.4%
Average inflation rate
9.13% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$184
Price difference ($100 base)
$84.38
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 1981
90.9
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 1981
10.32%
$100 in 1974 → 1981
$184
$100 in 1981 → 1974
$54.24
What happened to prices between 1974 and 1981
Between 1974 and 1981, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 90.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 84.4%, which works out to an average of
9.13% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.54 buys in 1981: the 1974 dollar
lost 45.8% of its purchasing power over
these 7 years.
1974 was the year the postwar economy broke its old rules. Consumer prices
rose 11.0%, the fastest annual increase since 1947, as the Arab oil embargo
that ran from October 1973 to March 1974 roughly quadrupled the price of
crude oil worldwide. Gasoline, which had averaged 38.5 cents a gallon in
1973, jumped to 53.2 cents, and shortages forced many states into odd-even
rationing at the pump. Nixon’s wage and price controls, in place in some form
since 1971, expired at the end of April, removing the last brake on prices
just as the oil shock hit. Nixon himself resigned in August over Watergate,
and Gerald Ford’s response to inflation, a voluntary “Whip Inflation Now”
campaign built around lapel buttons, became a symbol of how little
conventional politics could do against the problem. Prices kept climbing even
as the economy weakened: a recession that started in November 1973 dragged
on, the Dow fell to a bear-market bottom of 577.60 in December, and
unemployment was already rising toward the 9% it would reach in 1975. The
combination of rising prices and a shrinking economy gave the decade its
name: stagflation.
Every 1974 amount converts to 1981 at the same ratio, 1.84: $1,000 becomes
$1,844, and $10,000 becomes $18,438.
Amount in 1974
Value in 1981
$1.00
$1.84
$5.00
$9.22
$10.00
$18.44
$20.00
$36.88
$50.00
$92.19
$100
$184
$500
$922
$1,000
$1,844
$5,000
$9,219
$10,000
$18,438
$100,000
$184,381
$1,000,000
$1,843,813
Inflation by spending category, 1974–1981
Between 1974 and 1981, energy rose the most, up 156.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 37.3%, against 84.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 1981, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
9.13%
$184
Energy
14.40%
$256
Transportation
10.68%
$203
Housing
10.20%
$197
Medical care
10.05%
$196
Core (all items less food & energy)
8.81%
$181
Food
7.86%
$170
Apparel
4.63%
$137
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 1981
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 10.32% a year, and slowest in the 1970s (8.94% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–1981 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1974, at end
1974–1980
8.94%
67.1%
$167
1980–1981
10.32%
10.3%
$184
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $123 by
1977, on its way to $184 in 1981; 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 5.8% in 1976.
In 1981, prices rose 10.3% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $184; the year's average CPI of 90.9 is the level
behind every 1981 figure on this page.
1981 was the year the inflation fever finally broke, at an extraordinary price.
Consumer prices rose 10.3%, the second year of back-to-back double-digit
inflation and the last time the U.S. would see one. To end it, Paul Volcker’s
Federal Reserve drove its policy rate above 19% and let borrowing costs go
where they may: a 30-year mortgage cost more than 18% by autumn, car loans and
business credit froze, and homebuilders mailed the Fed two-by-fours in protest.
The squeeze tipped the economy into recession in July, the deep 1981–82
downturn that would push unemployment past 10%. But it worked. Inflation fell
by nearly half within a year and to under 4% by 1983, the disinflation that
defined the following two decades. Even the price of mailing a letter told the
year’s story: postage went up twice in eight months.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 1981: $100 is worth $184 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-1981/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 1981. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-1981/