$100 in 1976 is worth $230 in 1990,
because prices increased 129.7% over that period, an average of
6.12% a year.
$100 in 1976 has
the same buying power as
$230
in 1990
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
129.7%
Average inflation rate
6.12% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$230
Price difference ($100 base)
$130
CPI in 1976
56.9
CPI in 1990
130.7
Inflation in 1976
5.76%
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
$100 in 1976 → 1990
$230
$100 in 1990 → 1976
$43.53
What happened to prices between 1976 and 1990
Between 1976 and 1990, the Consumer Price Index went from 56.9 to 130.7.
Cumulatively, prices increased 129.7%, which works out to an average of
6.12% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1976 bought what
$0.44 buys in 1990: the 1976 dollar
lost 56.5% of its purchasing power over
these 14 years.
Consumer prices rose 5.8% in 1976, the calmest pace since 1972,
as the economy pulled out of the 1973-75 recession and price growth settled
to roughly half its 1974 peak. The recovery gave Americans
room to celebrate: tall ships filled New York Harbor and fireworks lit cities
nationwide on July 4 for the country’s bicentennial, a rare moment of shared
celebration after Vietnam and Watergate. Politically, Jimmy Carter, a former
Georgia governor running as a Washington outsider, defeated incumbent Gerald
Ford that November, campaigning on restoring trust in government and bringing
down inflation and unemployment together. In a California garage, Steve
Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Computer that April to
sell the Apple I, a bare circuit board aimed at electronics hobbyists, a
business that looked far from consequential at the time. First-class
postage, which had risen to 13 cents that past December 31, held there
through the year, the longest stretch without a rate change since the Postal
Service’s creation. A median household earned $12,686 in 1976, a new home
sold for a median $44,200, and gas averaged 59 cents a gallon. Consumer
prices stood 474.7% above their 1913 level, a calm interlude
before inflation turned back up.
Every 1976 amount converts to 1990 at the same ratio, 2.30: $1,000 becomes
$2,297, and $10,000 becomes $22,970.
Amount in 1976
Value in 1990
$1.00
$2.30
$5.00
$11.49
$10.00
$22.97
$20.00
$45.94
$50.00
$115
$100
$230
$500
$1,149
$1,000
$2,297
$5,000
$11,485
$10,000
$22,970
$100,000
$229,701
$1,000,000
$2,297,012
Inflation by spending category, 1976–1990
Between 1976 and 1990, medical care rose the most, up 213.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 65.0%, against 129.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1976
spending costs in 1990, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1976 →
All items (CPI-U)
6.12%
$230
Medical care
8.49%
$313
Housing
6.42%
$239
Core (all items less food & energy)
6.33%
$236
Energy
6.01%
$226
Transportation
5.75%
$219
Food
5.62%
$215
Apparel
3.64%
$165
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1976: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1976 to 1990
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 9.70% a year, and slowest in the 1980s (4.72% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1976–1990 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1976, at end
1976–1980
9.70%
44.8%
$145
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$230
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1976
$100 from 1976 had already become $175 by
1983, on its way to $230 in 1990; 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 the smallest rise was 1.9% in 1986.
In 1990, prices rose 5.4% and $100 from 1976 had the buying
power of $230; the year's average CPI of 130.7 is the level
behind every 1990 figure on this page.
In 1990, the median U.S. household earned about $29,900, gas averaged $1.15 a
gallon, and mailing a letter cost a quarter. Inflation ran hot at 5.4% for the
year, its highest rate since 1982, pushed up by an oil shock after Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait, and the economy tipped into recession that summer. It was
the last gasp of elevated inflation before the long calm of the 1990s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1976 to 1990: $100 is worth $230 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-1990/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1976 to 1990. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-1990/