$100 in 1974 is worth $265 in 1990,
because prices increased 165.1% over that period, an average of
6.28% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$265
in 1990
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
165.1%
Average inflation rate
6.28% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$265
Price difference ($100 base)
$165
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 1990
130.7
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
$100 in 1974 → 1990
$265
$100 in 1990 → 1974
$37.72
What happened to prices between 1974 and 1990
Between 1974 and 1990, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 130.7.
Cumulatively, prices increased 165.1%, which works out to an average of
6.28% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.38 buys in 1990: the 1974 dollar
lost 62.3% of its purchasing power over
these 16 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 1990 at the same ratio, 2.65: $1,000 becomes
$2,651, and $10,000 becomes $26,511.
Amount in 1974
Value in 1990
$1.00
$2.65
$5.00
$13.26
$10.00
$26.51
$20.00
$53.02
$50.00
$133
$100
$265
$500
$1,326
$1,000
$2,651
$5,000
$13,256
$10,000
$26,511
$100,000
$265,112
$1,000,000
$2,651,116
Inflation by spending category, 1974–1990
Between 1974 and 1990, medical care rose the most, up 284.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 78.8%, against 165.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 1990, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
6.28%
$265
Medical care
8.77%
$384
Housing
6.66%
$281
Core (all items less food & energy)
6.51%
$274
Energy
6.35%
$268
Transportation
6.23%
$263
Food
5.63%
$240
Apparel
3.70%
$179
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 1990
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 1980s (4.72% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–1990 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1974, at end
1974–1980
8.94%
67.1%
$167
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$265
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $196 by
1982, on its way to $265 in 1990; 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 1990, prices rose 5.4% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $265; the year's average CPI of 130.7 is the level
behind every 1990 figure on this page.
In 1990, the median U.S. household earned about $29,900, gas averaged $1.15 a
gallon, and mailing a letter cost a quarter. Inflation ran hot at 5.4% for the
year, its highest rate since 1982, pushed up by an oil shock after Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait, and the economy tipped into recession that summer. It was
the last gasp of elevated inflation before the long calm of the 1990s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 1990: $100 is worth $265 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-1990/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 1990. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-1990/