Value of a dollar · 1978
Value of a Dollar in 1978
$1 in 1978 had the same buying power as $4.93 in 2025. Prices rose 393% over those 47 years, an average of 3.45% a year.
- $100 from 1978 $493 in 2025 dollars
- Prices since +393% 4.93× the 1978 level
- Average inflation 3.45% a year, 1978–2025
- $100 in 2025 $20.26 in 1978 dollars
1978 dollars in 2025 money
| In 1978 | Worth in 2025 |
|---|---|
| $1 | $4.93 |
| $10 | $49.35 |
| $100 | $493 |
| $1,000 | $4,935 |
| $10,000 | $49,348 |
For a specific amount or a different pair of years, use the inflation calculator.
How $100 from 1978 kept pace
The amount needed in each later year to buy what $100 bought in 1978:
Prices had doubled by 1990, 12 years after 1978. The steepest single year along the way was 1980, when inflation reached 13.55%. Read what happened in 1980.
Borrowing in 1978
A 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 9.64% in 1978, against 7.4% this week. See every year on historical mortgage rates.
Value of a dollar in 1978 — FAQ
How much is $1 from 1978 worth today?
$1 in 1978 buys about as much as $4.93 did in 2025, the latest full year of Consumer Price Index data. $100 from 1978 equals about $493.
How much have prices gone up since 1978?
Consumer prices rose about 393% from 1978 to 2025, so things cost about 4.93 times as much. That works out to an average of 3.45% a year.
What would $100 in 2025 have been worth in 1978?
$100 in 2025 had the buying power of about $20.26 in 1978.
When did prices double after 1978?
By 1990, 12 years later, the price level was more than twice what it was in 1978, so a dollar saved in 1978 bought less than half as much.
Based on annual average Consumer Price Index levels. 2025 is the latest full year in the data, so “today” on this page means 2025 dollars.
Data: World Bank, World Development Indicators, via APIVerve. Our tables, charts and text are licensed CC BY-NC 4.0: share and adapt them for non-commercial use as long as you credit us. For commercial use or bulk data, use the APIVerve API. See the data terms. Cite as: Digest Your Finances, “Value of a Dollar by Year”, https://digestyourfinances.com/studies/value-of-a-dollar/1978/ — based on World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY-NC 4.0.
