Inflation Record$100 in 1978 → Today
Official data verified · U.S. CPI-U · Annual average · NSA · Data through September 2026 (fetched 2026-11-02) · Series CUUR0000SA0
$509.31
+409.3% cumulative inflation · 1978–2026
Your $100 in 1978 would have the purchasing power of $509.31 today.
What this means
- Purchasing power: $100 in 1978 had the same average buying power as $509.31 in 2026.
- Price level change: the overall consumer price level rose by 409.3% across this 48-year span; the purchasing power of a dollar fell by 80.4%.
- 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 1978 | Worth in 2026 |
|---|---|
| $1 | $5.09 |
| $5 | $25.47 |
| $10 | $50.93 |
| $20 | $101.86 |
| $50 | $254.66 |
| $100 | $509.31 |
| $500 | $2,546.57 |
| $1,000 | $5,093.14 |
| $10,000 | $50,931.41 |
| $100,000 | $509,314.09 |
Key facts about 1978
- Consumer prices rose 7.6% in 1978 — the 17th-largest annual increase in the 1913–2026 record.
- Among the major categories tracked since 1978, Medical care rose the most: 760.9% cumulatively to 2025.
- A gallon of regular gasoline averaged $0.67 in 1978 — about $3.41 in 2026 dollars.
- In the decade after 1978, prices rose 81.3% in total.
$100 in 1978, decade by decade
| Year | Worth | Cumulative price change |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | $181.29 | +81.3% |
| 1998 | $249.89 | +149.9% |
| 2008 | $330.05 | +230.0% |
| 2018 | $384.94 | +284.9% |
| 2026 | $509.31 | +409.3% |
Monthly CPI in 1978
| Month | CPI-U index | Change vs same month, prior year |
|---|---|---|
| January | 62.500 | 6.8% |
| February | 62.900 | 6.4% |
| March | 63.400 | 6.6% |
| April | 63.900 | 6.5% |
| May | 64.500 | 7.0% |
| June | 65.200 | 7.4% |
| July | 65.700 | 7.7% |
| August | 66.000 | 7.8% |
| September | 66.500 | 8.3% |
| October | 67.100 | 8.9% |
| November | 67.400 | 8.9% |
| December | 67.700 | 9.0% |
Annual average CPI-U for 1978: 65.233.
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 (1978 annual average): 65.233 · Index (2026 annual average): 332.243 · Ratio: 5.0931
Formula: amount × (indexend / indexstart). Formula v1.0 — annual-average CPI, NSA (per-country basis on each methodology page). Source: BLS data finder.