$100 in 1976 is worth $316 in 2002,
because prices increased 216.2% over that period, an average of
4.53% a year.
$100 in 1976 has
the same buying power as
$316
in 2002
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
216.2%
Average inflation rate
4.53% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$316
Price difference ($100 base)
$216
CPI in 1976
56.9
CPI in 2002
179.9
Inflation in 1976
5.76%
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
$100 in 1976 → 2002
$316
$100 in 2002 → 1976
$31.63
What happened to prices between 1976 and 2002
Between 1976 and 2002, the Consumer Price Index went from 56.9 to 179.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 216.2%, which works out to an average of
4.53% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1976 bought what
$0.32 buys in 2002: the 1976 dollar
lost 68.4% of its purchasing power over
these 26 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 2002 at the same ratio, 3.16: $1,000 becomes
$3,162, and $10,000 becomes $31,617.
Amount in 1976
Value in 2002
$1.00
$3.16
$5.00
$15.81
$10.00
$31.62
$20.00
$63.23
$50.00
$158
$100
$316
$500
$1,581
$1,000
$3,162
$5,000
$15,808
$10,000
$31,617
$100,000
$316,169
$1,000,000
$3,161,687
Inflation by spending category, 1976–2002
Between 1976 and 2002, medical care rose the most, up 449.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 64.9%, against 216.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1976
spending costs in 2002, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1976 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.53%
$316
Medical care
6.77%
$549
Housing
4.76%
$335
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.72%
$332
Food
4.12%
$286
Transportation
4.00%
$277
Energy
3.89%
$270
Apparel
1.94%
$165
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1976: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1976 to 2002
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 9.70% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.21% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1976–2002 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
2000–2002
2.21%
4.5%
$316
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1976
$100 from 1976 had already become $218 by
1989, on its way to $316 in 2002; 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 2002, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1976 had the buying
power of $316; the year's average CPI of 179.9 is the level
behind every 2002 figure on this page.
The CPI rose 1.6% in 2002, the lowest annual rate of the decade so far, with gasoline down to an
average of $1.36 a gallon and slack in the labor market keeping wage pressure low. The median
household earned about $42,400, and a new home cost roughly $187,600, an increase of about 7%
from the year before as low mortgage rates began to lift housing. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate to 1.25% in November. Stocks were moving the other way: after the Enron and WorldCom
scandals, the S&P 500 hit its bear-market low on October 9, about 49% below its March 2000
peak, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July to tighten corporate accounting rules.
On January 1, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 European countries. A
first-class stamp rose to 37 cents in June, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1976 to 2002: $100 is worth $316 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-2002/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1976 to 2002. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-2002/