$100 in 1974 is worth $481 in 2015,
because prices increased 380.8% over that period, an average of
3.90% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$481
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
380.8%
Average inflation rate
3.90% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$481
Price difference ($100 base)
$381
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 1974 → 2015
$481
$100 in 2015 → 1974
$20.80
What happened to prices between 1974 and 2015
Between 1974 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 380.8%, which works out to an average of
3.90% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.21 buys in 2015: the 1974 dollar
lost 79.2% of its purchasing power over
these 41 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 2015 at the same ratio, 4.81: $1,000 becomes
$4,808, and $10,000 becomes $48,076.
Amount in 1974
Value in 2015
$1.00
$4.81
$5.00
$24.04
$10.00
$48.08
$20.00
$96.15
$50.00
$240
$100
$481
$500
$2,404
$1,000
$4,808
$5,000
$24,038
$10,000
$48,076
$100,000
$480,765
$1,000,000
$4,807,647
Inflation by spending category, 1974–2015
Between 1974 and 2015, medical care rose the most, up 953.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 81.4%, against 380.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.90%
$481
Medical care
5.91%
$1,054
Energy
4.16%
$533
Housing
4.10%
$520
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.95%
$490
Food
3.73%
$449
Transportation
3.65%
$435
Apparel
1.46%
$181
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 2015
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.68% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–2015 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
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$481
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $301 by
1994, on its way to $481 in 2015; 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: 2015
In 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $481; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 2015: $100 is worth $481 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2015/