$100 in 1974 is worth $437 in 2008,
because prices increased 336.7% over that period, an average of
4.43% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$437
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
336.7%
Average inflation rate
4.43% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$437
Price difference ($100 base)
$337
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1974 → 2008
$437
$100 in 2008 → 1974
$22.90
What happened to prices between 1974 and 2008
Between 1974 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 336.7%, which works out to an average of
4.43% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.23 buys in 2008: the 1974 dollar
lost 77.1% of its purchasing power over
these 34 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 2008 at the same ratio, 4.37: $1,000 becomes
$4,367, and $10,000 becomes $43,672.
Amount in 1974
Value in 2008
$1.00
$4.37
$5.00
$21.84
$10.00
$43.67
$20.00
$87.34
$50.00
$218
$100
$437
$500
$2,184
$1,000
$4,367
$5,000
$21,836
$10,000
$43,672
$100,000
$436,720
$1,000,000
$4,367,201
Inflation by spending category, 1974–2008
Between 1974 and 2008, medical care rose the most, up 758.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 71.3%, against 336.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.43%
$437
Medical care
6.53%
$859
Energy
5.52%
$621
Housing
4.67%
$472
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.43%
$436
Transportation
4.36%
$427
Food
4.07%
$389
Apparel
1.60%
$171
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 2008
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–2008 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
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$437
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $265 by
1990, on its way to $437 in 2008; 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.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2008
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $437; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 2008: $100 is worth $437 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2008/