$100 in 1974 is worth $497 in 2017,
because prices increased 397.2% over that period, an average of
3.80% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$497
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
397.2%
Average inflation rate
3.80% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$497
Price difference ($100 base)
$397
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 1974 → 2017
$497
$100 in 2017 → 1974
$20.11
What happened to prices between 1974 and 2017
Between 1974 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 397.2%, which works out to an average of
3.80% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.20 buys in 2017: the 1974 dollar
lost 79.9% of its purchasing power over
these 43 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 2017 at the same ratio, 4.97: $1,000 becomes
$4,972, and $10,000 becomes $49,720.
Amount in 1974
Value in 2017
$1.00
$4.97
$5.00
$24.86
$10.00
$49.72
$20.00
$99.44
$50.00
$249
$100
$497
$500
$2,486
$1,000
$4,972
$5,000
$24,860
$10,000
$49,720
$100,000
$497,201
$1,000,000
$4,972,008
Inflation by spending category, 1974–2017
Between 1974 and 2017, medical care rose the most, up 1021.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 81.0%, against 397.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.80%
$497
Medical care
5.78%
$1,121
Housing
4.04%
$549
Energy
3.99%
$537
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.86%
$510
Food
3.58%
$454
Transportation
3.51%
$440
Apparel
1.39%
$181
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 2017
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–2017 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
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$497
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $318 by
1996, on its way to $497 in 2017; 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: 2017
In 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $497; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 2017: $100 is worth $497 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2017/