$100 in 1974 is worth $480 in 2014,
because prices increased 380.2% over that period, an average of
4.00% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$480
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
380.2%
Average inflation rate
4.00% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$480
Price difference ($100 base)
$380
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1974 → 2014
$480
$100 in 2014 → 1974
$20.82
What happened to prices between 1974 and 2014
Between 1974 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 380.2%, which works out to an average of
4.00% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.21 buys in 2014: the 1974 dollar
lost 79.2% of its purchasing power over
these 40 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 2014 at the same ratio, 4.80: $1,000 becomes
$4,802, and $10,000 becomes $48,019.
Amount in 1974
Value in 2014
$1.00
$4.80
$5.00
$24.01
$10.00
$48.02
$20.00
$96.04
$50.00
$240
$100
$480
$500
$2,401
$1,000
$4,802
$5,000
$24,010
$10,000
$48,019
$100,000
$480,195
$1,000,000
$4,801,947
Inflation by spending category, 1974–2014
Between 1974 and 2014, medical care rose the most, up 926.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 83.7%, against 380.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.00%
$480
Medical care
5.99%
$1,027
Energy
4.75%
$639
Housing
4.15%
$509
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.01%
$482
Transportation
3.95%
$471
Food
3.78%
$441
Apparel
1.53%
$184
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 2014
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–2014 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
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$480
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $301 by
1994, on its way to $480 in 2014; 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: 2014
In 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $480; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 2014: $100 is worth $480 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2014/