$100 in 1976 is worth $268 in 1995,
because prices increased 167.8% over that period, an average of
5.32% a year.
$100 in 1976 has
the same buying power as
$268
in 1995
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
167.8%
Average inflation rate
5.32% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$268
Price difference ($100 base)
$168
CPI in 1976
56.9
CPI in 1995
152.4
Inflation in 1976
5.76%
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
$100 in 1976 → 1995
$268
$100 in 1995 → 1976
$37.34
What happened to prices between 1976 and 1995
Between 1976 and 1995, the Consumer Price Index went from 56.9 to 152.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 167.8%, which works out to an average of
5.32% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1976 bought what
$0.37 buys in 1995: the 1976 dollar
lost 62.7% of its purchasing power over
these 19 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 1995 at the same ratio, 2.68: $1,000 becomes
$2,678, and $10,000 becomes $26,784.
Amount in 1976
Value in 1995
$1.00
$2.68
$5.00
$13.39
$10.00
$26.78
$20.00
$53.57
$50.00
$134
$100
$268
$500
$1,339
$1,000
$2,678
$5,000
$13,392
$10,000
$26,784
$100,000
$267,838
$1,000,000
$2,678,383
Inflation by spending category, 1976–1995
Between 1976 and 1995, medical care rose the most, up 324.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 75.5%, against 167.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1976
spending costs in 1995, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1976 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.32%
$268
Medical care
7.90%
$424
Core (all items less food & energy)
5.59%
$281
Housing
5.49%
$276
Transportation
4.99%
$252
Food
4.74%
$241
Energy
4.56%
$233
Apparel
3.01%
$176
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1976: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1976 to 1995
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 9.70% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (3.12% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1976–1995 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
1990–1995
3.12%
16.6%
$268
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1976
$100 from 1976 had already become $189 by
1985, on its way to $268 in 1995; 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 1995, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1976 had the buying
power of $268; the year's average CPI of 152.4 is the level
behind every 1995 figure on this page.
In 1995, gas averaged $1.15 a gallon, a new home cost roughly $133,900, and the median household
earned about $34,100. Inflation ran at 2.8% for the year, little changed from 1994, as the
Federal Reserve shifted from raising rates to cutting them. Having lifted its policy rate six
times the year before, the Fed judged by July that the economy had cooled enough on its own, and
trimmed rates instead, an outcome economists would later point to as a rare soft landing. The
year opened with a currency crisis: Mexico’s peso lost roughly half its value against the dollar
in a matter of weeks, and the U.S. Treasury and the IMF assembled a $50 billion rescue package,
controversial in Congress, to stabilize it and keep the crisis from spreading to other emerging
markets. Closer to home, a budget standoff between President Clinton and the Republican Congress
shut down federal agencies twice, first for five days in November and then for 21 days spanning
December into January 1996, the longest shutdown up to that point. The Postal Service raised the
cost of a first-class stamp to 32 cents in January. Low, steady inflation was about the only calm
part of 1995’s economic story.
MLA: “Inflation from 1976 to 1995: $100 is worth $268 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-1995/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1976 to 1995. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-1995/