$100 in 1974 is worth $674 in 2026,
because prices increased 573.9% over that period, an average of
3.74% a year.
$100 in 1974 has
the same buying power as
$674
in 2026
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
573.9%
Average inflation rate
3.74% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$674
Price difference ($100 base)
$574
CPI in 1974
49.3
CPI in 2026
332.243
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
Inflation in 2026
3.20%
$100 in 1974 → 2026
$674
$100 in 2026 → 1974
$14.84
Uses a partial-year average for the current year; updates with each CPI release.
What happened to prices between 1974 and 2026
Between 1974 and 2026, the Consumer Price Index went from 49.3 to 332.243.
Cumulatively, prices increased 573.9%, which works out to an average of
3.74% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1974 bought what
$0.15 buys in 2026: the 1974 dollar
lost 85.2% of its purchasing power over
these 52 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 2026 at the same ratio, 6.74: $1,000 becomes
$6,739, and $10,000 becomes $67,392.
Amount in 1974
Value in 2026
$1.00
$6.74
$5.00
$33.70
$10.00
$67.39
$20.00
$135
$50.00
$337
$100
$674
$500
$3,370
$1,000
$6,739
$5,000
$33,696
$10,000
$67,392
$100,000
$673,921
$1,000,000
$6,739,209
Inflation by spending category, 1974–2026
Between 1974 and 2026, medical care rose the most, up 1297.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 96.6%, against 573.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1974
spending costs in 2026, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1974 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.74%
$674
Medical care
5.20%
$1,398
Energy
4.16%
$834
Housing
4.03%
$781
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.76%
$680
Food
3.61%
$633
Transportation
3.59%
$625
Apparel
1.31%
$197
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1974: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1974 to 2026
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 1974–2026 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
2020–2026
4.25%
28.4%
$674
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1974
$100 from 1974 had already become $349 by
2000, on its way to $674 in 2026; 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: 2026
In 2026, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 1974 had the buying
power of $674; the year's average CPI of 332.243 is the level
behind every 2026 figure on this page.
Cite this page
MLA: “Inflation from 1974 to 2026: $100 is worth $674 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2026/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1974 to 2026. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1974-to-2026/