$100 in 1976 is worth $409 in 2013,
because prices increased 309.4% over that period, an average of
3.88% a year.
$100 in 1976 has
the same buying power as
$409
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
309.4%
Average inflation rate
3.88% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$409
Price difference ($100 base)
$309
CPI in 1976
56.9
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1976
5.76%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1976 → 2013
$409
$100 in 2013 → 1976
$24.43
What happened to prices between 1976 and 2013
Between 1976 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 56.9 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 309.4%, which works out to an average of
3.88% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1976 bought what
$0.24 buys in 2013: the 1976 dollar
lost 75.6% of its purchasing power over
these 37 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 2013 at the same ratio, 4.09: $1,000 becomes
$4,094, and $10,000 becomes $40,941.
Amount in 1976
Value in 2013
$1.00
$4.09
$5.00
$20.47
$10.00
$40.94
$20.00
$81.88
$50.00
$205
$100
$409
$500
$2,047
$1,000
$4,094
$5,000
$20,471
$10,000
$40,941
$100,000
$409,415
$1,000,000
$4,094,148
Inflation by spending category, 1976–2013
Between 1976 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 717.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 69.4%, against 309.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1976
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1976 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.88%
$409
Medical care
5.84%
$818
Energy
4.67%
$542
Housing
3.97%
$423
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.87%
$407
Transportation
3.78%
$395
Food
3.71%
$385
Apparel
1.44%
$169
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1976: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1976 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 9.70% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1976–2013 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$383
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$409
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1976
$100 from 1976 had already become $260 by
1994, on its way to $409 in 2013; 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 prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1976 had the buying
power of $409; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1976 to 2013: $100 is worth $409 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1976 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1976-to-2013/