$100 in 1974 is worth $373 in 2003,
because prices increased 273.2% over that period, an average of
4.65% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$373
in 2003
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
273.2%
Average inflation rate
4.65% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$373
Price difference ($100 base)
$273
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 2003
184
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
$100 in 1974 → 2003
$373
$100 in 2003 → 1974
$26.79
What happened to prices between 1974 and 2003
Between 1974 and 2003, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 184.
Cumulatively, prices increased 273.2%, which works out to an average of
4.65% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.27 buys in 2003: the 1974 dollar
lost 73.2% of its purchasing power over
these 29 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 2003 at the same ratio, 3.73: $1,000 becomes
$3,732, and $10,000 becomes $37,323.
Amount in 1974
Value in 2003
$1.00
$3.73
$5.00
$18.66
$10.00
$37.32
$20.00
$74.65
$50.00
$187
$100
$373
$500
$1,866
$1,000
$3,732
$5,000
$18,661
$10,000
$37,323
$100,000
$373,225
$1,000,000
$3,732,252
Inflation by spending category, 1974–2003
Between 1974 and 2003, medical care rose the most, up 600.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 74.2%, against 273.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 2003, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.65%
$373
Medical care
6.94%
$701
Housing
4.93%
$403
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.82%
$391
Energy
4.50%
$358
Transportation
4.35%
$344
Food
4.17%
$327
Apparel
1.93%
$174
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 2003
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–2003 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
2000–2003
2.23%
6.9%
$373
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $240 by
1988, on its way to $373 in 2003; 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 2003, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $373; the year's average CPI of 184 is the level
behind every 2003 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.3% in 2003, up from 1.6% in 2002, as gasoline climbed from $1.36 to $1.59 a
gallon around the March invasion of Iraq. Even so, the Federal Reserve spent the year worried
about prices being too low: on June 25 it cut its policy rate to 1.0%, the lowest since 1958,
and said the risk of deflation, though small, deserved a response. The median household earned
about $43,300 and a new home cost roughly $195,000. Congress passed a second round of tax cuts
in May, and the economy grew faster in the second half of the year than at any point since
1999. Hiring lagged the recovery, and unemployment peaked at 6.3% in June. A first-class stamp
stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 2003: $100 is worth $373 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2003/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 2003. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2003/