$100 in 1976 is worth $378 in 2008,
because prices increased 278.4% over that period, an average of
4.25% a year.
$100 in 1976 has
the same buying power as
$378
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
278.4%
Average inflation rate
4.25% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$378
Price difference ($100 base)
$278
CPI in 1976
56.9
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1976
5.76%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1976 → 2008
$378
$100 in 2008 → 1976
$26.43
What happened to prices between 1976 and 2008
Between 1976 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 56.9 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 278.4%, which works out to an average of
4.25% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1976 bought what
$0.26 buys in 2008: the 1976 dollar
lost 73.6% of its purchasing power over
these 32 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 2008 at the same ratio, 3.78: $1,000 becomes
$3,784, and $10,000 becomes $37,839.
Amount in 1976
Value in 2008
$1.00
$3.78
$5.00
$18.92
$10.00
$37.84
$20.00
$75.68
$50.00
$189
$100
$378
$500
$1,892
$1,000
$3,784
$5,000
$18,919
$10,000
$37,839
$100,000
$378,388
$1,000,000
$3,783,884
Inflation by spending category, 1976–2008
Between 1976 and 2008, medical care rose the most, up 600.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 58.1%, against 278.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1976
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1976 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.25%
$378
Medical care
6.27%
$700
Energy
5.32%
$525
Housing
4.44%
$402
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.22%
$376
Transportation
4.04%
$355
Food
3.97%
$348
Apparel
1.44%
$158
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1976: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1976 to 2008
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 1976–2008 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
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$378
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1976
$100 from 1976 had already become $247 by
1992, on its way to $378 in 2008; 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.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2008
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1976 had the buying
power of $378; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1976 to 2008: $100 is worth $378 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1976 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-2008/