$100 in 1974 is worth $222 in 1986,
because prices increased 122.3% over that period, an average of
6.88% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$222
in 1986
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
122.3%
Average inflation rate
6.88% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$222
Price difference ($100 base)
$122
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 1986
109.6
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 1986
1.86%
$100 in 1974 → 1986
$222
$100 in 1986 → 1974
$44.98
What happened to prices between 1974 and 1986
Between 1974 and 1986, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 109.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 122.3%, which works out to an average of
6.88% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.45 buys in 1986: the 1974 dollar
lost 55.0% of its purchasing power over
these 12 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 1986 at the same ratio, 2.22: $1,000 becomes
$2,223, and $10,000 becomes $22,231.
Amount in 1974
Value in 1986
$1.00
$2.22
$5.00
$11.12
$10.00
$22.23
$20.00
$44.46
$50.00
$111
$100
$222
$500
$1,112
$1,000
$2,223
$5,000
$11,116
$10,000
$22,231
$100,000
$222,312
$1,000,000
$2,223,124
Inflation by spending category, 1974–1986
Between 1974 and 1986, medical care rose the most, up 187.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 52.6%, against 122.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 1986, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
6.88%
$222
Medical care
9.21%
$288
Housing
7.65%
$242
Energy
7.25%
$231
Core (all items less food & energy)
7.18%
$230
Transportation
6.93%
$223
Food
5.85%
$198
Apparel
3.58%
$153
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 1986
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 1980s (4.87% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–1986 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1974, at end
1974–1980
8.94%
67.1%
$167
1980–1986
4.87%
33.0%
$222
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $167 by
1980, on its way to $222 in 1986; 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 1986, prices rose 1.9% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $222; the year's average CPI of 109.6 is the level
behind every 1986 figure on this page.
1986 delivered the decade’s biggest one-year drop in inflation, and it came
almost entirely from a single source: oil. Saudi Arabia abandoned its policy
of restraining output to prop up prices, and world crude collapsed from
about $27 a barrel to under $10 by midyear. Gasoline, which had averaged
$1.12 a gallon in 1985, fell to 86 cents. With energy costs plunging,
headline CPI inflation for the year came in at just 1.9%, the lowest annual
rate since 1965 and a striking bookend to 1980’s 13.5% peak. The relief was
uneven: prices for most goods and services outside energy kept rising at a
moderate pace, so households that didn’t drive much or heat with oil felt
less of the difference. In October, Congress passed the Tax Reform Act of
1986, a bipartisan overhaul that cut the top individual income tax rate from
50% to 28% while closing many deductions and shelters, the broadest rewrite
of the federal tax code since World War II. Between cheap gas and falling
interest rates, 1986 read like proof that the inflationary 1970s were a
closed chapter, six years after the U.S. economy had felt anything but
calm.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 1986: $100 is worth $222 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-1986/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 1986. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-1986/