$100 in 1979 is worth $321 in 2013,
because prices increased 220.9% over that period, an average of
3.49% a year.
$100 in 1979 has
the same buying power as
$321
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
220.9%
Average inflation rate
3.49% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$321
Price difference ($100 base)
$221
CPI in 1979
72.6
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1979
11.35%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1979 → 2013
$321
$100 in 2013 → 1979
$31.16
What happened to prices between 1979 and 2013
Between 1979 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 72.6 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 220.9%, which works out to an average of
3.49% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1979 bought what
$0.31 buys in 2013: the 1979 dollar
lost 68.8% of its purchasing power over
these 34 years.
Consumer prices rose 11.3% in 1979, the fastest pace since 1947 and the
decade’s second bout of double-digit inflation after 1974’s
11.0%. The trigger was familiar: the Iranian Revolution that January halted
Iran’s oil exports, and panic buying amplified the shortage, sending crude
prices sharply higher over the year and motorists back into gas lines, with
some states reviving the odd-even rationing last seen in 1974. Paul Volcker,
appointed Federal Reserve chairman that August, responded with a strategy
shift announced that October: the Fed would target the money supply directly
and let interest rates rise as high as necessary to break inflation, whatever
the short-term cost. That cost would arrive as a deep recession in 1981-82,
but by year’s end 1979 had already delivered enough turmoil on its own. A
reactor at the Three Mile Island plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
suffered a partial core meltdown that March 28, the worst commercial nuclear
accident in U.S. history, and on November 4, militants in Tehran stormed the
U.S. embassy and took 52 Americans hostage, beginning a 444-day crisis that
consumed the rest of Carter’s presidency. A median household earned $16,461
in 1979, a new home sold for a median $62,900, and gas jumped to 86 cents a
gallon. Consumer prices finished the decade 97.8% above where they stood in
1969, very nearly doubling in ten years, and stood 633.3%
above their 1913 level. The 1970s had opened with inflation
cooling from the 1969 spike and closed with prices rising faster than at any
point since 1947, setting up the Great
Inflation’s final act in 1980.
Every 1979 amount converts to 2013 at the same ratio, 3.21: $1,000 becomes
$3,209, and $10,000 becomes $32,088.
Amount in 1979
Value in 2013
$1.00
$3.21
$5.00
$16.04
$10.00
$32.09
$20.00
$64.18
$50.00
$160
$100
$321
$500
$1,604
$1,000
$3,209
$5,000
$16,044
$10,000
$32,088
$100,000
$320,877
$1,000,000
$3,208,774
Inflation by spending category, 1979–2013
Between 1979 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 529.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 50.1%, against 220.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1979
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1979 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.49%
$321
Medical care
5.56%
$630
Energy
3.94%
$372
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.53%
$325
Housing
3.52%
$324
Transportation
3.37%
$308
Food
3.25%
$297
Apparel
1.20%
$150
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1979: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1979 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 13.50% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1979–2013 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1979, at end
1979–1980
13.50%
13.5%
$113
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$180
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$237
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$300
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$321
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1979
$100 from 1979 had already become $210 by
1995, on its way to $321 in 2013; 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 prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1979 had the buying
power of $321; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1979 to 2013: $100 is worth $321 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1979-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1979 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1979-to-2013/