$100 in 1974 is worth $618 in 2023,
because prices increased 518.1% over that period, an average of
3.79% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$618
in 2023
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
518.1%
Average inflation rate
3.79% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$618
Price difference ($100 base)
$518
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 2023
304.702
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 2023
4.12%
$100 in 1974 → 2023
$618
$100 in 2023 → 1974
$16.18
What happened to prices between 1974 and 2023
Between 1974 and 2023, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 304.702.
Cumulatively, prices increased 518.1%, which works out to an average of
3.79% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.16 buys in 2023: the 1974 dollar
lost 83.8% of its purchasing power over
these 49 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 2023 at the same ratio, 6.18: $1,000 becomes
$6,181, and $10,000 becomes $61,806.
Amount in 1974
Value in 2023
$1.00
$6.18
$5.00
$30.90
$10.00
$61.81
$20.00
$124
$50.00
$309
$100
$618
$500
$3,090
$1,000
$6,181
$5,000
$30,903
$10,000
$61,806
$100,000
$618,057
$1,000,000
$6,180,568
Inflation by spending category, 1974–2023
Between 1974 and 2023, medical care rose the most, up 1195.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 88.2%, against 518.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 2023, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.79%
$618
Medical care
5.37%
$1,295
Energy
4.18%
$744
Housing
4.05%
$699
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.81%
$624
Food
3.67%
$586
Transportation
3.66%
$583
Apparel
1.30%
$188
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 2023
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 1974–2023 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
2020–2023
5.59%
17.7%
$618
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $331 by
1998, on its way to $618 in 2023; 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: 2023
In 2023, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $618; the year's average CPI of 304.702 is the level
behind every 2023 figure on this page.
2023 was the year inflation came down without a recession. Consumer prices
rose 4.1% on average, roughly half of 2022’s 8.0%, and the December-to-December
rate fell to 3.4%. Gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon, well below the 2022
average, and supply-chain pressure on goods eased. Shelter, restaurant meals,
and other services stayed expensive, so the CPI kept rising at a rate well
above the pre-pandemic pace.
The Federal Reserve completed its rate-hiking campaign in July, taking the
policy rate to 5.25–5.50%, the highest level in 22 years. The effects showed
up in banking: Silicon Valley Bank failed in March after rate increases eroded
the value of its bond portfolio, the second-largest bank failure in U.S.
history at the time. Despite that, unemployment stayed under 4% all year.
Median household income was $80,610 according to the Census Bureau. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp rose to 66 cents
in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 2023: $100 is worth $618 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2023/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 2023. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2023/