$100 in 1976 is worth $303 in 2000,
because prices increased 202.6% over that period, an average of
4.72% a year.
$100 in 1976 has
the same buying power as
$303
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
202.6%
Average inflation rate
4.72% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$303
Price difference ($100 base)
$203
CPI in 1976
56.9
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1976
5.76%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1976 → 2000
$303
$100 in 2000 → 1976
$33.04
What happened to prices between 1976 and 2000
Between 1976 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 56.9 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 202.6%, which works out to an average of
4.72% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1976 bought what
$0.33 buys in 2000: the 1976 dollar
lost 67.0% of its purchasing power over
these 24 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 2000 at the same ratio, 3.03: $1,000 becomes
$3,026, and $10,000 becomes $30,264.
Amount in 1976
Value in 2000
$1.00
$3.03
$5.00
$15.13
$10.00
$30.26
$20.00
$60.53
$50.00
$151
$100
$303
$500
$1,513
$1,000
$3,026
$5,000
$15,132
$10,000
$30,264
$100,000
$302,636
$1,000,000
$3,026,362
Inflation by spending category, 1976–2000
Between 1976 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 401.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 72.3%, against 202.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1976
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1976 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.72%
$303
Medical care
6.95%
$502
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.91%
$316
Housing
4.90%
$315
Transportation
4.36%
$278
Energy
4.33%
$276
Food
4.26%
$272
Apparel
2.29%
$172
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1976: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1976 to 2000
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 9.70% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1976–2000 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$303
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1976
$100 from 1976 had already become $208 by
1988, on its way to $303 in 2000; 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 1.6% in 1998.
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1976 had the buying
power of $303; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1976 to 2000: $100 is worth $303 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1976 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-2000/