$100 in 1974 is worth $594 in 2022,
because prices increased 493.6% over that period, an average of
3.78% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$594
in 2022
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
493.6%
Average inflation rate
3.78% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$594
Price difference ($100 base)
$494
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 2022
292.655
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 2022
8.00%
$100 in 1974 → 2022
$594
$100 in 2022 → 1974
$16.85
What happened to prices between 1974 and 2022
Between 1974 and 2022, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 292.655.
Cumulatively, prices increased 493.6%, which works out to an average of
3.78% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.17 buys in 2022: the 1974 dollar
lost 83.2% of its purchasing power over
these 48 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 2022 at the same ratio, 5.94: $1,000 becomes
$5,936, and $10,000 becomes $59,362.
Amount in 1974
Value in 2022
$1.00
$5.94
$5.00
$29.68
$10.00
$59.36
$20.00
$119
$50.00
$297
$100
$594
$500
$2,968
$1,000
$5,936
$5,000
$29,681
$10,000
$59,362
$100,000
$593,621
$1,000,000
$5,936,207
Inflation by spending category, 1974–2022
Between 1974 and 2022, medical care rose the most, up 1189.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 83.1%, against 493.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 2022, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.78%
$594
Medical care
5.47%
$1,289
Energy
4.38%
$783
Housing
4.00%
$657
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.79%
$596
Transportation
3.74%
$582
Food
3.63%
$554
Apparel
1.27%
$183
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 2022
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.94% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1974–2022 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$525
2020–2022
6.34%
13.1%
$594
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $331 by
1998, on its way to $594 in 2022; 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: 2022
In 2022, prices rose 8.0% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $594; the year's average CPI of 292.655 is the level
behind every 2022 figure on this page.
2022 was the year inflation returned. Consumer prices rose 8.0% on average,
the worst since 1981, driven by pandemic-era supply chains, stimulus-fueled
demand, and an energy shock from the war in Ukraine. Gas briefly topped $5 a
gallon nationally for the first time ever, and “inflation” became the
top-ranked economic concern in nearly every poll of American households.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 2022: $100 is worth $594 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2022/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 2022. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2022/