Inflation Record$100 in 1976 → Today
Official data verified · U.S. CPI-U · Annual average · NSA · Data through September 2026 (fetched 2026-11-02) · Series CUUR0000SA0
$583.82
+483.8% cumulative inflation · 1976–2026
Your $100 in 1976 would have the purchasing power of $583.82 today.
What this means
- Purchasing power: $100 in 1976 had the same average buying power as $583.82 in 2026.
- Price level change: the overall consumer price level rose by 483.8% across this 50-year span; the purchasing power of a dollar fell by 82.9%.
- This measures the broad basket of consumer goods and services (CPI-U). Individual expenses — housing, medical care, tuition — moved at different rates.
What this means in other amounts
| In 1976 | Worth in 2026 |
|---|---|
| $1 | $5.84 |
| $5 | $29.19 |
| $10 | $58.38 |
| $20 | $116.76 |
| $50 | $291.91 |
| $100 | $583.82 |
| $500 | $2,919.10 |
| $1,000 | $5,838.21 |
| $10,000 | $58,382.06 |
| $100,000 | $583,820.57 |
Key facts about 1976
- Consumer prices rose 5.7% in 1976 — the 23rd-largest annual increase in the 1913–2026 record.
- Among the major categories tracked since 1976, Medical care rose the most: 922.8% cumulatively to 2025.
- A gallon of regular gasoline averaged $0.61 in 1976 — about $3.59 in 2026 dollars.
- In the decade after 1976, prices rose 92.6% in total.
$100 in 1976, decade by decade
| Year | Worth | Cumulative price change |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | $192.61 | +92.6% |
| 1996 | $275.62 | +175.6% |
| 2006 | $354.24 | +254.2% |
| 2016 | $421.74 | +321.7% |
| 2026 | $583.82 | +483.8% |
Monthly CPI in 1976
| Month | CPI-U index | Change vs same month, prior year |
|---|---|---|
| January | 55.600 | 6.7% |
| February | 55.800 | 6.3% |
| March | 55.900 | 6.1% |
| April | 56.100 | 6.0% |
| May | 56.500 | 6.2% |
| June | 56.800 | 6.0% |
| July | 57.100 | 5.4% |
| August | 57.400 | 5.7% |
| September | 57.600 | 5.5% |
| October | 57.900 | 5.5% |
| November | 58.000 | 4.9% |
| December | 58.200 | 4.9% |
Annual average CPI-U for 1976: 56.908.
Verify this calculation
Series: CUUR0000SA0 (Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, All Items, U.S. City Average; Not seasonally adjusted (NSA); base 1982-84=100).
Index (1976 annual average): 56.908 · Index (2026 annual average): 332.243 · Ratio: 5.8382
Formula: amount × (indexend / indexstart). Formula v1.0 — annual-average CPI, NSA (per-country basis on each methodology page). Source: BLS data finder.