$100 in 1974 is worth $473 in 2013,
because prices increased 372.5% over that period, an average of
4.06% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$473
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
372.5%
Average inflation rate
4.06% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$473
Price difference ($100 base)
$373
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1974 → 2013
$473
$100 in 2013 → 1974
$21.16
What happened to prices between 1974 and 2013
Between 1974 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 372.5%, which works out to an average of
4.06% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.21 buys in 2013: the 1974 dollar
lost 78.8% of its purchasing power over
these 39 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 2013 at the same ratio, 4.73: $1,000 becomes
$4,725, and $10,000 becomes $47,253.
Amount in 1974
Value in 2013
$1.00
$4.73
$5.00
$23.63
$10.00
$47.25
$20.00
$94.51
$50.00
$236
$100
$473
$500
$2,363
$1,000
$4,725
$5,000
$23,626
$10,000
$47,253
$100,000
$472,529
$1,000,000
$4,725,294
Inflation by spending category, 1974–2013
Between 1974 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 902.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 83.6%, against 372.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.06%
$473
Medical care
6.09%
$1,003
Energy
4.88%
$641
Housing
4.19%
$496
Transportation
4.07%
$475
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.07%
$473
Food
3.81%
$430
Apparel
1.57%
$184
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–2013 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
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$473
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $301 by
1994, on its way to $473 in 2013; 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: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $473; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 2013: $100 is worth $473 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2013/