$100 in 1974 is worth $230 in 1987,
because prices increased 130.4% over that period, an average of
6.63% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$230
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
130.4%
Average inflation rate
6.63% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$230
Price difference ($100 base)
$130
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1974 → 1987
$230
$100 in 1987 → 1974
$43.40
What happened to prices between 1974 and 1987
Between 1974 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 130.4%, which works out to an average of
6.63% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.43 buys in 1987: the 1974 dollar
lost 56.6% of its purchasing power over
these 13 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 1987 at the same ratio, 2.30: $1,000 becomes
$2,304, and $10,000 becomes $23,043.
Amount in 1974
Value in 1987
$1.00
$2.30
$5.00
$11.52
$10.00
$23.04
$20.00
$46.09
$50.00
$115
$100
$230
$500
$1,152
$1,000
$2,304
$5,000
$11,521
$10,000
$23,043
$100,000
$230,426
$1,000,000
$2,304,260
Inflation by spending category, 1974–1987
Between 1974 and 1987, medical care rose the most, up 206.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 59.4%, against 130.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
6.63%
$230
Medical care
9.01%
$307
Housing
7.28%
$249
Core (all items less food & energy)
6.94%
$239
Energy
6.71%
$233
Transportation
6.62%
$230
Food
5.72%
$206
Apparel
3.65%
$159
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 1987
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 1980s (4.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–1987 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1974, at end
1974–1980
8.94%
67.1%
$167
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$230
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $167 by
1980, on its way to $230 in 1987; 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 1987, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $230; the year's average CPI of 113.6 is the level
behind every 1987 figure on this page.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 1987: $100 is worth $230 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-1987/