$100 in 1974 is worth $487 in 2016,
because prices increased 386.8% over that period, an average of
3.84% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$487
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
386.8%
Average inflation rate
3.84% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$487
Price difference ($100 base)
$387
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1974 → 2016
$487
$100 in 2016 → 1974
$20.54
What happened to prices between 1974 and 2016
Between 1974 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 386.8%, which works out to an average of
3.84% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.21 buys in 2016: the 1974 dollar
lost 79.5% of its purchasing power over
these 42 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 2016 at the same ratio, 4.87: $1,000 becomes
$4,868, and $10,000 becomes $48,683.
Amount in 1974
Value in 2016
$1.00
$4.87
$5.00
$24.34
$10.00
$48.68
$20.00
$97.37
$50.00
$243
$100
$487
$500
$2,434
$1,000
$4,868
$5,000
$24,341
$10,000
$48,683
$100,000
$486,830
$1,000,000
$4,868,296
Inflation by spending category, 1974–2016
Between 1974 and 2016, medical care rose the most, up 993.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 81.6%, against 386.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.84%
$487
Medical care
5.86%
$1,094
Housing
4.06%
$533
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.91%
$501
Energy
3.89%
$497
Food
3.65%
$450
Transportation
3.51%
$426
Apparel
1.43%
$182
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 2016
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$487
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $301 by
1994, on its way to $487 in 2016; 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: 2016
In 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $487; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 2016: $100 is worth $487 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2016/