What is $1 from 1973 worth today?
$1 in 1973 is worth $7.59 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 659% since 1973, an average of 3.88% a year over 53 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 2.9 times, and a dollar today buys 13.2% of what it bought in 1973.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1973 is worth $151.77, $100 is worth $758.87 and $1,000 is worth $7,589 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1973
The CPI-U averaged 44.4 in 1973, up 6.2% from 41.8 in 1972. From December 1972 to December 1973, prices rose 8.7%. This was the period of the 1973 oil crisis. Ranked by annual inflation, 1973 is number 19 of the 112 years from 1914 to 2025.
In the 1970s, annual inflation averaged 7.1% a year. The highest rate was 11.3% in 1979 and the lowest 3.2% in 1972.
1973 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1973 money
If something cost $5 in 1973, the same buying power today is $37.94. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $13.18 bought in 1973, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $7,906 salary in 1973.
If your pay in 1973 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $7,589 a month in September 2026 to afford the same basket of goods and services. Remember that this is an average across consumer spending: some prices, such as housing, health care and tuition, have risen faster than the CPI, while others have risen more slowly.
How this 1973 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1973 annual average (44.4): 336.94 ÷ 44.4 = 7.5887. Multiply any 1973 amount by 7.5887 to convert it to September 2026 dollars. The data is the CPI for All Urban Consumers, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted (BLS series CUUR0000SA0), published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Use the calculator above to pick a specific month in 1973 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1972 and $1 in 1974. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.