$100 in 1974 is worth $318 in 1996,
because prices increased 218.3% over that period, an average of
5.40% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$318
in 1996
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
218.3%
Average inflation rate
5.40% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$318
Price difference ($100 base)
$218
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 1996
156.9
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
$100 in 1974 → 1996
$318
$100 in 1996 → 1974
$31.42
What happened to prices between 1974 and 1996
Between 1974 and 1996, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 156.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 218.3%, which works out to an average of
5.40% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.31 buys in 1996: the 1974 dollar
lost 68.6% of its purchasing power over
these 22 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 1996 at the same ratio, 3.18: $1,000 becomes
$3,183, and $10,000 becomes $31,826.
Amount in 1974
Value in 1996
$1.00
$3.18
$5.00
$15.91
$10.00
$31.83
$20.00
$63.65
$50.00
$159
$100
$318
$500
$1,591
$1,000
$3,183
$5,000
$15,913
$10,000
$31,826
$100,000
$318,256
$1,000,000
$3,182,556
Inflation by spending category, 1974–1996
Between 1974 and 1996, medical care rose the most, up 438.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 89.8%, against 218.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 1996, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.40%
$318
Medical care
7.95%
$538
Core (all items less food & energy)
5.65%
$335
Housing
5.63%
$334
Transportation
5.31%
$312
Energy
4.94%
$289
Food
4.76%
$278
Apparel
2.95%
$190
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 1996
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (3.09% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–1996 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
1990–1996
3.09%
20.0%
$318
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $218 by
1985, on its way to $318 in 1996; 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 1996, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $318; the year's average CPI of 156.9 is the level
behind every 1996 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $35,500 in 1996, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, up noticeably
from the mid-decade lull, and a new home cost roughly $140,000. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the
year, ticking back up from 1995 as energy prices firmed. Washington passed two of the decade’s
more consequential laws that year: in February, the Telecommunications Act rewrote the rules for
phone, cable, and broadcast media for the first time since 1934, opening local markets to
competition and easing ownership limits; in August, a welfare overhaul ended the federal
guarantee of cash assistance, replacing it with block grants to states and time limits on
benefits. In October, the federal minimum wage rose to $4.75 an hour, its first increase in five
years and the opening step of a two-part law that would take it to $5.15 the following
September. Two sweeping new laws and a minimum wage finally on the move again made 1996 a year
that changed more about how the economy was governed than about how fast prices moved.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 1996: $100 is worth $318 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-1996/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 1996. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-1996/