$100 in 1974 is worth $466 in 2012,
because prices increased 365.7% over that period, an average of
4.13% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$466
in 2012
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
365.7%
Average inflation rate
4.13% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$466
Price difference ($100 base)
$366
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 2012
229.594
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 2012
2.07%
$100 in 1974 → 2012
$466
$100 in 2012 → 1974
$21.47
What happened to prices between 1974 and 2012
Between 1974 and 2012, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 229.594.
Cumulatively, prices increased 365.7%, which works out to an average of
4.13% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.21 buys in 2012: the 1974 dollar
lost 78.5% of its purchasing power over
these 38 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 2012 at the same ratio, 4.66: $1,000 becomes
$4,657, and $10,000 becomes $46,571.
Amount in 1974
Value in 2012
$1.00
$4.66
$5.00
$23.29
$10.00
$46.57
$20.00
$93.14
$50.00
$233
$100
$466
$500
$2,329
$1,000
$4,657
$5,000
$23,285
$10,000
$46,571
$100,000
$465,708
$1,000,000
$4,657,079
Inflation by spending category, 1974–2012
Between 1974 and 2012, medical care rose the most, up 878.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 81.9%, against 365.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 2012, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.13%
$466
Medical care
6.19%
$979
Energy
5.03%
$646
Housing
4.25%
$486
Transportation
4.18%
$475
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.13%
$465
Food
3.88%
$424
Apparel
1.59%
$182
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 2012
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.39% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–2012 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$442
2010–2012
2.61%
5.3%
$466
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $285 by
1992, on its way to $466 in 2012; 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 prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2012
In 2012, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $466; the year's average CPI of 229.594 is the level
behind every 2012 figure on this page.
2012 put a number on what the Federal Reserve was aiming for. In January the
Fed announced a 2% inflation target, and consumer prices rose 2.1% for the
year, almost exactly on it. Gasoline averaged $3.62 a gallon, another annual
high, but the pace of increase cooled from 2011’s 3.2% as food and core prices
grew more slowly.
The bigger story was housing and jobs. Home prices began to recover, and the
median new home sold for about $245,200, up from $227,200 the year before.
Median household income was $51,017. The federal minimum wage held at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 45 cents.
In September the Fed started a third round of asset purchases, this one with
no fixed end date, aimed at lowering unemployment. Overseas, the European
Central Bank’s July pledge to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro calmed
bond markets. A summer drought across the Midwest drove corn and soybean
prices to records, a shock that reached grocery shelves only partly, because
most of what shoppers pay for food covers processing and transport rather than
raw crops.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 2012: $100 is worth $466 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2012/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 2012. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2012/