$100 in 1977 is worth $284 in 2000,
because prices increased 184.2% over that period, an average of
4.65% a year.
$100 in 1977 has
the same buying power as
$284
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
184.2%
Average inflation rate
4.65% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$284
Price difference ($100 base)
$184
CPI in 1977
60.6
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1977
6.50%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1977 → 2000
$284
$100 in 2000 → 1977
$35.19
What happened to prices between 1977 and 2000
Between 1977 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 60.6 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 184.2%, which works out to an average of
4.65% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1977 bought what
$0.35 buys in 2000: the 1977 dollar
lost 64.8% of its purchasing power over
these 23 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 2000 at the same ratio, 2.84: $1,000 becomes
$2,842, and $10,000 becomes $28,416.
Amount in 1977
Value in 2000
$1.00
$2.84
$5.00
$14.21
$10.00
$28.42
$20.00
$56.83
$50.00
$142
$100
$284
$500
$1,421
$1,000
$2,842
$5,000
$14,208
$10,000
$28,416
$100,000
$284,158
$1,000,000
$2,841,584
Inflation by spending category, 1977–2000
Between 1977 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 357.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 64.9%, against 184.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1977
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1977 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.65%
$284
Medical care
6.84%
$458
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.85%
$297
Housing
4.82%
$295
Transportation
4.24%
$260
Food
4.17%
$256
Energy
4.10%
$252
Apparel
2.20%
$165
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1977: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1977 to 2000
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 10.79% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1977–2000 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$284
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1977
$100 from 1977 had already become $195 by
1988, on its way to $284 in 2000; 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 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1977 had the buying
power of $284; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1977 to 2000: $100 is worth $284 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1977-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1977 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1977-to-2000/