$100 in 1974 is worth $519 in 2019,
because prices increased 418.6% over that period, an average of
3.73% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$519
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
418.6%
Average inflation rate
3.73% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$519
Price difference ($100 base)
$419
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 1974 → 2019
$519
$100 in 2019 → 1974
$19.28
What happened to prices between 1974 and 2019
Between 1974 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 418.6%, which works out to an average of
3.73% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.19 buys in 2019: the 1974 dollar
lost 80.7% of its purchasing power over
these 45 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 2019 at the same ratio, 5.19: $1,000 becomes
$5,186, and $10,000 becomes $51,857.
Amount in 1974
Value in 2019
$1.00
$5.19
$5.00
$25.93
$10.00
$51.86
$20.00
$104
$50.00
$259
$100
$519
$500
$2,593
$1,000
$5,186
$5,000
$25,929
$10,000
$51,857
$100,000
$518,574
$1,000,000
$5,185,740
Inflation by spending category, 1974–2019
Between 1974 and 2019, medical care rose the most, up 1075.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 78.7%, against 418.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.73%
$519
Medical care
5.63%
$1,176
Housing
3.99%
$581
Energy
3.92%
$565
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.79%
$533
Food
3.49%
$469
Transportation
3.44%
$459
Apparel
1.30%
$179
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 2019
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–2019 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
2010–2019
1.78%
17.2%
$519
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $318 by
1996, on its way to $519 in 2019; 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: 2019
In 2019, prices rose 1.8% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $519; the year's average CPI of 255.657 is the level
behind every 2019 figure on this page.
2019 was the last ordinary year before COVID-19. Consumer prices rose 1.8%,
slightly under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with gasoline averaging
$2.60 a gallon. Median household income jumped to $68,703, the highest on
record up to that point, and the median new home sold for about $328,000. A
first-class stamp rose to 55 cents.
The Fed reversed course. After four increases in 2018, it cut rates three
times, to 1.50–1.75%, citing slower global growth, trade tensions, and low
inflation. In July the expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in
U.S. records, and in August the yield curve briefly inverted, a signal
investors read as a recession warning.
For workers at the bottom of the pay scale, 2019 marked a milestone of a
different kind. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and reached its tenth
year without an increase, the longest gap since the wage was first set. Because
prices had climbed about 19% since it was last raised in 2009, its buying power
was lower than at any point in that span.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 2019: $100 is worth $519 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2019/