What is $1 from 1978 worth today?
$1 in 1978 is worth $5.17 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 417% since 1978, an average of 3.47% a year over 48 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 2.4 times, and a dollar today buys 19.4% of what it bought in 1978.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1978 is worth $103.36, $100 is worth $516.78 and $1,000 is worth $5,168 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1978
The CPI-U averaged 65.2 in 1978, up 7.6% from 60.6 in 1977. From December 1977 to December 1978, prices rose 9.0%. Ranked by annual inflation, 1978 is number 17 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.
1978 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1978 money
If something cost $5 in 1978, the same buying power today is $25.84. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $19.35 bought in 1978, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $11,610 salary in 1978.
If your pay in 1978 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $5,168 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 1978 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1978 annual average (65.2): 336.94 ÷ 65.2 = 5.1678. Multiply any 1978 amount by 5.1678 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 1978 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1977 and $1 in 1979. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.