$100 in 1977 is worth $251 in 1995,
because prices increased 151.5% over that period, an average of
5.26% a year.
$100 in 1977 has
the same buying power as
$251
in 1995
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
151.5%
Average inflation rate
5.26% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$251
Price difference ($100 base)
$151
CPI in 1977
60.6
CPI in 1995
152.4
Inflation in 1977
6.50%
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
$100 in 1977 → 1995
$251
$100 in 1995 → 1977
$39.76
What happened to prices between 1977 and 1995
Between 1977 and 1995, the Consumer Price Index went from 60.6 to 152.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 151.5%, which works out to an average of
5.26% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1977 bought what
$0.40 buys in 1995: the 1977 dollar
lost 60.2% of its purchasing power over
these 18 years.
Consumer prices rose 6.5% in 1977, ticking back up from 1976’s
5.8% as the economic recovery strengthened, wages climbed, and energy costs
pushed higher again. The year opened with a warning about that energy
dependence: record cold across the Midwest and Northeast in January and
February strained natural gas supplies so badly that schools and factories in
several states shut down for days to conserve fuel. Jimmy Carter, inaugurated
that January, made energy policy a centerpiece of his presidency, and
Congress created the cabinet-level Department of Energy that August to
consolidate programs built up piecemeal since the 1973 oil embargo. Culture
offered some relief from the anxiety: released that May, Star Wars became the
highest-grossing film in history to that point, drawing lines around theater
blocks for months. The year also closed an era in a different way. Elvis
Presley was found dead at his Graceland home on August 16 at age 42, drawing
tens of thousands of mourners to Memphis. A median household earned $13,572
in 1977, a new home sold for a median $48,800, and gas averaged 62 cents a
gallon. Consumer prices stood 512.1% above their 1913 level,
with the energy anxieties of the year setting up the harder shocks of 1978
and 1979.
Every 1977 amount converts to 1995 at the same ratio, 2.51: $1,000 becomes
$2,515, and $10,000 becomes $25,149.
Amount in 1977
Value in 1995
$1.00
$2.51
$5.00
$12.57
$10.00
$25.15
$20.00
$50.30
$50.00
$126
$100
$251
$500
$1,257
$1,000
$2,515
$5,000
$12,574
$10,000
$25,149
$100,000
$251,485
$1,000,000
$2,514,851
Inflation by spending category, 1977–1995
Between 1977 and 1995, medical care rose the most, up 286.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 67.9%, against 151.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1977
spending costs in 1995, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1977 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.26%
$251
Medical care
7.81%
$387
Core (all items less food & energy)
5.55%
$264
Housing
5.42%
$259
Transportation
4.88%
$236
Food
4.65%
$227
Energy
4.29%
$213
Apparel
2.92%
$168
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1977: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1977 to 1995
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 10.79% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (3.12% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1977–1995 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1977, at end
1977–1980
10.79%
36.0%
$136
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$216
1990–1995
3.12%
16.6%
$251
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1977
$100 from 1977 had already become $181 by
1986, on its way to $251 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 1977 had the buying
power of $251; 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 1977 to 1995: $100 is worth $251 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1977-to-1995/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1977 to 1995. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1977-to-1995/