What is $1 from 1974 worth today?
$1 in 1974 is worth $6.83 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 583% since 1974, an average of 3.75% a year over 52 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 2.8 times, and a dollar today buys 14.6% of what it bought in 1974.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1974 is worth $136.69, $100 is worth $683.45 and $1,000 is worth $6,834 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1974
The CPI-U averaged 49.3 in 1974, up 11.0% from 44.4 in 1973. From December 1973 to December 1974, prices rose 12.3%. This was the period of the 1973-74 oil shock. Ranked by annual inflation, 1974 is number 8 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.
1974 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1974 money
If something cost $5 in 1974, the same buying power today is $34.17. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $14.63 bought in 1974, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $8,779 salary in 1974.
If your pay in 1974 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $6,834 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 1974 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1974 annual average (49.3): 336.94 ÷ 49.3 = 6.8345. Multiply any 1974 amount by 6.8345 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 1974 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1973 and $1 in 1975. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.