$100 in 1974 is worth $365 in 2002,
because prices increased 264.9% over that period, an average of
4.73% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$365
in 2002
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
264.9%
Average inflation rate
4.73% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$365
Price difference ($100 base)
$265
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 2002
179.9
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
$100 in 1974 → 2002
$365
$100 in 2002 → 1974
$27.40
What happened to prices between 1974 and 2002
Between 1974 and 2002, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 179.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 264.9%, which works out to an average of
4.73% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.27 buys in 2002: the 1974 dollar
lost 72.6% of its purchasing power over
these 28 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 2002 at the same ratio, 3.65: $1,000 becomes
$3,649, and $10,000 becomes $36,491.
Amount in 1974
Value in 2002
$1.00
$3.65
$5.00
$18.25
$10.00
$36.49
$20.00
$72.98
$50.00
$182
$100
$365
$500
$1,825
$1,000
$3,649
$5,000
$18,245
$10,000
$36,491
$100,000
$364,909
$1,000,000
$3,649,087
Inflation by spending category, 1974–2002
Between 1974 and 2002, medical care rose the most, up 573.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 78.7%, against 264.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 2002, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.73%
$365
Medical care
7.05%
$674
Housing
5.02%
$394
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.94%
$386
Transportation
4.40%
$334
Food
4.24%
$320
Energy
4.23%
$319
Apparel
2.09%
$179
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 2002
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.21% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–2002 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$349
2000–2002
2.21%
4.5%
$365
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $240 by
1988, on its way to $365 in 2002; 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 1.6% in 1998.
In 2002, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $365; the year's average CPI of 179.9 is the level
behind every 2002 figure on this page.
The CPI rose 1.6% in 2002, the lowest annual rate of the decade so far, with gasoline down to an
average of $1.36 a gallon and slack in the labor market keeping wage pressure low. The median
household earned about $42,400, and a new home cost roughly $187,600, an increase of about 7%
from the year before as low mortgage rates began to lift housing. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate to 1.25% in November. Stocks were moving the other way: after the Enron and WorldCom
scandals, the S&P 500 hit its bear-market low on October 9, about 49% below its March 2000
peak, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July to tighten corporate accounting rules.
On January 1, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 European countries. A
first-class stamp rose to 37 cents in June, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 2002: $100 is worth $365 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2002/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 2002. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2002/