$100 in 1974 is worth $326 in 1997,
because prices increased 225.6% over that period, an average of
5.27% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$326
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
225.6%
Average inflation rate
5.27% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$326
Price difference ($100 base)
$226
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1974 → 1997
$326
$100 in 1997 → 1974
$30.72
What happened to prices between 1974 and 1997
Between 1974 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 225.6%, which works out to an average of
5.27% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.31 buys in 1997: the 1974 dollar
lost 69.3% of its purchasing power over
these 23 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 1997 at the same ratio, 3.26: $1,000 becomes
$3,256, and $10,000 becomes $32,556.
Amount in 1974
Value in 1997
$1.00
$3.26
$5.00
$16.28
$10.00
$32.56
$20.00
$65.11
$50.00
$163
$100
$326
$500
$1,628
$1,000
$3,256
$5,000
$16,278
$10,000
$32,556
$100,000
$325,558
$1,000,000
$3,255,578
Inflation by spending category, 1974–1997
Between 1974 and 1997, medical care rose the most, up 453.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 91.5%, against 225.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.27%
$326
Medical care
7.72%
$553
Core (all items less food & energy)
5.51%
$343
Housing
5.50%
$342
Transportation
5.12%
$315
Energy
4.78%
$293
Food
4.67%
$285
Apparel
2.87%
$191
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 1997
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.98% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–1997 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
1990–1997
2.98%
22.8%
$326
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $218 by
1985, on its way to $326 in 1997; 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 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $326; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 1997: $100 is worth $326 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-1997/