$100 in 1976 is worth $239 in 1991,
because prices increased 139.4% over that period, an average of
5.99% a year.
$100 in 1976 has
the same buying power as
$239
in 1991
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
139.4%
Average inflation rate
5.99% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$239
Price difference ($100 base)
$139
CPI in 1976
56.9
CPI in 1991
136.2
Inflation in 1976
5.76%
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
$100 in 1976 → 1991
$239
$100 in 1991 → 1976
$41.78
What happened to prices between 1976 and 1991
Between 1976 and 1991, the Consumer Price Index went from 56.9 to 136.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 139.4%, which works out to an average of
5.99% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1976 bought what
$0.42 buys in 1991: the 1976 dollar
lost 58.2% of its purchasing power over
these 15 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 1991 at the same ratio, 2.39: $1,000 becomes
$2,394, and $10,000 becomes $23,937.
Amount in 1976
Value in 1991
$1.00
$2.39
$5.00
$11.97
$10.00
$23.94
$20.00
$47.87
$50.00
$120
$100
$239
$500
$1,197
$1,000
$2,394
$5,000
$11,968
$10,000
$23,937
$100,000
$239,367
$1,000,000
$2,393,673
Inflation by spending category, 1976–1991
Between 1976 and 1991, medical care rose the most, up 240.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 71.1%, against 139.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1976
spending costs in 1991, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1976 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.99%
$239
Medical care
8.51%
$340
Housing
6.25%
$248
Core (all items less food & energy)
6.23%
$248
Energy
5.63%
$227
Transportation
5.55%
$225
Food
5.44%
$221
Apparel
3.65%
$171
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1976: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1976 to 1991
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 9.70% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (4.21% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1976–1991 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
1990–1991
4.21%
4.2%
$239
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1976
$100 from 1976 had already become $175 by
1983, on its way to $239 in 1991; 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 1991, prices rose 4.2% and $100 from 1976 had the buying
power of $239; the year's average CPI of 136.2 is the level
behind every 1991 figure on this page.
1991 opened in recession and closed in a slow, uneven recovery. The median household earned
about $30,100 for the year, gas averaged $1.14 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $120,000.
Inflation ran at 4.2% for the year, down from 1990’s oil-driven spike, as the Gulf War ended in
February and crude oil retreated from its autumn highs. The recession itself, dated by the
National Bureau of Economic Research from July 1990 to March 1991, was technically over by
spring, but hiring stayed weak well into 1992, the stretch economists came to call the jobless
recovery. The Federal Reserve kept cutting interest rates through the year to support growth,
reversing the tightening campaign it had run through the late 1980s. In April the federal
minimum wage rose to $4.25 an hour, the second step of an increase from the $3.35 rate that had
held since 1981. The Postal Service had already raised the cost of a first-class stamp to 29
cents that February. It was the first full year of the decade without an oil shock driving
prices, even if the job market took longer to follow.
MLA: “Inflation from 1976 to 1991: $100 is worth $239 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-1991/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1976 to 1991. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-1991/