$100 in 1977 is worth $292 in 2001,
because prices increased 192.2% over that period, an average of
4.57% a year.
$100 in 1977 has
the same buying power as
$292
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
192.2%
Average inflation rate
4.57% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$292
Price difference ($100 base)
$192
CPI in 1977
60.6
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1977
6.50%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1977 → 2001
$292
$100 in 2001 → 1977
$34.22
What happened to prices between 1977 and 2001
Between 1977 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 60.6 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 192.2%, which works out to an average of
4.57% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1977 bought what
$0.34 buys in 2001: the 1977 dollar
lost 65.8% of its purchasing power over
these 24 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 2001 at the same ratio, 2.92: $1,000 becomes
$2,922, and $10,000 becomes $29,224.
Amount in 1977
Value in 2001
$1.00
$2.92
$5.00
$14.61
$10.00
$29.22
$20.00
$58.45
$50.00
$146
$100
$292
$500
$1,461
$1,000
$2,922
$5,000
$14,612
$10,000
$29,224
$100,000
$292,244
$1,000,000
$2,922,442
Inflation by spending category, 1977–2001
Between 1977 and 2001, medical care rose the most, up 378.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 62.0%, against 192.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1977
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1977 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.57%
$292
Medical care
6.74%
$479
Housing
4.79%
$307
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.76%
$305
Food
4.13%
$264
Energy
4.09%
$262
Transportation
4.09%
$262
Apparel
2.03%
$162
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1977: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1977 to 2001
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 1977–2001 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
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$292
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1977
$100 from 1977 had already become $205 by
1989, on its way to $292 in 2001; 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 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1977 had the buying
power of $292; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1977 to 2001: $100 is worth $292 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1977-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1977 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1977-to-2001/