$100 in 1977 is worth $342 in 2007,
because prices increased 242.1% over that period, an average of
4.19% a year.
$100 in 1977 has
the same buying power as
$342
in 2007
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
242.1%
Average inflation rate
4.19% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$342
Price difference ($100 base)
$242
CPI in 1977
60.6
CPI in 2007
207.342
Inflation in 1977
6.50%
Inflation in 2007
2.85%
$100 in 1977 → 2007
$342
$100 in 2007 → 1977
$29.23
What happened to prices between 1977 and 2007
Between 1977 and 2007, the Consumer Price Index went from 60.6 to 207.342.
Cumulatively, prices increased 242.1%, which works out to an average of
4.19% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1977 bought what
$0.29 buys in 2007: the 1977 dollar
lost 70.8% of its purchasing power over
these 30 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 2007 at the same ratio, 3.42: $1,000 becomes
$3,421, and $10,000 becomes $34,215.
Amount in 1977
Value in 2007
$1.00
$3.42
$5.00
$17.11
$10.00
$34.21
$20.00
$68.43
$50.00
$171
$100
$342
$500
$1,711
$1,000
$3,421
$5,000
$17,107
$10,000
$34,215
$100,000
$342,149
$1,000,000
$3,421,485
Inflation by spending category, 1977–2007
Between 1977 and 2007, medical care rose the most, up 515.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 51.4%, against 242.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1977
spending costs in 2007, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1977 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.19%
$342
Medical care
6.25%
$616
Energy
4.90%
$420
Housing
4.41%
$365
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.22%
$345
Transportation
3.88%
$313
Food
3.84%
$310
Apparel
1.39%
$151
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1977: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1977 to 2007
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 10.79% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1977–2007 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
2000–2007
2.69%
20.4%
$342
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1977
$100 from 1977 had already become $232 by
1992, on its way to $342 in 2007; 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 2007, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1977 had the buying
power of $342; the year's average CPI of 207.342 is the level
behind every 2007 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.8% in 2007, with gasoline averaging $2.80 a gallon, but the year is better
known for what began underneath prices. In August, French bank BNP Paribas froze funds tied to
U.S. subprime mortgages, and credit between banks tightened. The Federal Reserve responded with
a half-point cut on September 18, its first in four years, and took the policy rate from 5.25% to
4.25% by December. The economy peaked that month, by the National Bureau of Economic Research’s
dating, and the Great Recession followed. The median household earned about $50,200, and the
median new home cost $247,900. Congress ended the decade-long freeze on the federal minimum wage
in May, with the first of three steps to $5.85 in July. A first-class stamp cost 41 cents.
MLA: “Inflation from 1977 to 2007: $100 is worth $342 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1977-to-2007/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1977 to 2007. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1977-to-2007/