$100 in 1977 is worth $355 in 2008,
because prices increased 255.3% over that period, an average of
4.17% a year.
$100 in 1977 has
the same buying power as
$355
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
255.3%
Average inflation rate
4.17% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$355
Price difference ($100 base)
$255
CPI in 1977
60.6
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1977
6.50%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1977 → 2008
$355
$100 in 2008 → 1977
$28.15
What happened to prices between 1977 and 2008
Between 1977 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 60.6 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 255.3%, which works out to an average of
4.17% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1977 bought what
$0.28 buys in 2008: the 1977 dollar
lost 71.9% of its purchasing power over
these 31 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 2008 at the same ratio, 3.55: $1,000 becomes
$3,553, and $10,000 becomes $35,529.
Amount in 1977
Value in 2008
$1.00
$3.55
$5.00
$17.76
$10.00
$35.53
$20.00
$71.06
$50.00
$178
$100
$355
$500
$1,776
$1,000
$3,553
$5,000
$17,764
$10,000
$35,529
$100,000
$355,285
$1,000,000
$3,552,855
Inflation by spending category, 1977–2008
Between 1977 and 2008, medical care rose the most, up 538.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 51.3%, against 255.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1977
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1977 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.17%
$355
Medical care
6.16%
$639
Energy
5.18%
$479
Housing
4.37%
$377
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.16%
$353
Transportation
3.94%
$331
Food
3.89%
$327
Apparel
1.34%
$151
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1977: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1977 to 2008
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 1977–2008 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
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$355
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1977
$100 from 1977 had already become $238 by
1993, on its way to $355 in 2008; 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.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2008
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1977 had the buying
power of $355; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1977 to 2008: $100 is worth $355 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1977-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1977 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1977-to-2008/