$100 in 1977 is worth $265 in 1997,
because prices increased 164.9% over that period, an average of
4.99% a year.
$100 in 1977 has
the same buying power as
$265
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
164.9%
Average inflation rate
4.99% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$265
Price difference ($100 base)
$165
CPI in 1977
60.6
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1977
6.50%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1977 → 1997
$265
$100 in 1997 → 1977
$37.76
What happened to prices between 1977 and 1997
Between 1977 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 60.6 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 164.9%, which works out to an average of
4.99% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1977 bought what
$0.38 buys in 1997: the 1977 dollar
lost 62.2% of its purchasing power over
these 20 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 1997 at the same ratio, 2.65: $1,000 becomes
$2,649, and $10,000 becomes $26,485.
Amount in 1977
Value in 1997
$1.00
$2.65
$5.00
$13.24
$10.00
$26.49
$20.00
$52.97
$50.00
$132
$100
$265
$500
$1,324
$1,000
$2,649
$5,000
$13,243
$10,000
$26,485
$100,000
$264,851
$1,000,000
$2,648,515
Inflation by spending category, 1977–1997
Between 1977 and 1997, medical care rose the most, up 311.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 69.1%, against 164.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1977
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1977 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.99%
$265
Medical care
7.33%
$412
Core (all items less food & energy)
5.24%
$278
Housing
5.15%
$273
Transportation
4.57%
$245
Food
4.48%
$240
Energy
4.15%
$226
Apparel
2.66%
$169
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1977: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1977 to 1997
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 10.79% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.98% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1977–1997 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
1990–1997
2.98%
22.8%
$265
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1977
$100 from 1977 had already become $187 by
1987, on its way to $265 in 1997; 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 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1977 had the buying
power of $265; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1977 to 1997: $100 is worth $265 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1977-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1977 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1977-to-1997/