U.S. inflation rate in 1979: 11.35%

Inflation by City

Inflation can vary widely by city, even within the United States. Here's how some cities fared in 1978 to 1979 (figures shown are purchasing power equivalents of $1):

• Houston, Texas: 13.28% average rate, $1 → $1.13, cumulative change of 13.28%
• Detroit, Michigan: 12.71% average rate, $1 → $1.13, cumulative change of 12.71%
• Chicago, Illinois: 12.48% average rate, $1 → $1.12, cumulative change of 12.48%
• Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas: 12.42% average rate, $1 → $1.12, cumulative change of 12.42%
• Seattle, Washington: 10.74% average rate, $1 → $1.11, cumulative change of 10.74%
• Atlanta, Georgia: 10.21% average rate, $1 → $1.10, cumulative change of 10.21%
• Boston, Massachusetts: 10.07% average rate, $1 → $1.10, cumulative change of 10.07%
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 9.94% average rate, $1 → $1.10, cumulative change of 9.94%
• Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Florida: 9.70% average rate, $1 → $1.10, cumulative change of 9.70%
• New York: 8.66% average rate, $1 → $1.09, cumulative change of 8.66%
• San Francisco, California: 8.21% average rate, $1 → $1.08, cumulative change of 8.21%

Houston, Texas experienced the highest rate of inflation during the 1 years between 1978 and 1979 (13.28%).

San Francisco, California experienced the lowest rate of inflation during the 1 years between 1978 and 1979 (8.21%).

Note that some locations showing 0% inflation may have not yet reported latest data.

Inflation by Country

Inflation can also vary widely by country. For comparison, in the UK £1.00 in 1978 would be equivalent to £1.13 in 1979, an absolute change of £0.13 and a cumulative change of 13.39%.

In Canada, CA$1.00 in 1978 would be equivalent to CA$1.09 in 1979, an absolute change of CA$0.09 and a cumulative change of 9.14%.

Compare these numbers to the US's overall absolute change of $0.11 and total percent change of 11.35%.

Inflation by Spending Category

CPI is the weighted combination of many categories of spending that are tracked by the government. Breaking down these categories helps explain the main drivers behind price changes.

Between 1978 and 1979:

• Gas prices increased from $0.65 per gallon to $0.72
• Electricity prices increased from $0.05 per KwH to $0.05

This chart shows the average rate of inflation for select CPI categories between 1978 and 1979.

Compare these values to the overall average of 11.35% per year:

For all these visualizations, it's important to note that not all categories may have been tracked since 1978. This table and charts use the earliest available data for each category.

How to calculate inflation rate for $1, 1978 to 1979

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1978 and 1979:

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.S. CPI was 65.2 in the year 1978 and 72.6 in 1979:

$1 in 1978 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $1.11 in 1979.

To get the total inflation rate for the 1 years between 1978 and 1979, we use the following formula:

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

Alternate Measurements of Inflation

There are multiple ways to measure inflation. Published rates of inflation will vary depending on methodology. The Consumer Price Index, used above, is the most common standard used globally.

Alternative measurements are sometimes used based on context and economic/political circumstances. Below are a few examples of alternative measurements.

Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Inflation

The PCE Price Index is the U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. It measures the change in prices of goods and services purchased by consumers.

The PCE Price Index changed by 8.88% per year on average between 1978 and 1979. The total PCE inflation between these dates was 8.88%. In 1978, PCE inflation was 6.96%.

This means that the PCE Index equates $1 in 1978 with $1.09 in 1979, a difference of $0.09. Compare this to the standard CPI measurement, which equates $1 with $1.11. The PCE measured -2.47% inflation compared to standard CPI.

For more information on the difference between PCE and CPI, see this analysis provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Core Inflation

Also of note is the Core CPI, which uses the standard CPI but omits the more volatile categories of food and energy.

Core inflation averaged 9.74% per year between 1978 and 1979 (vs all-CPI inflation of 11.35%), for an inflation total of 9.74%. In 1978, core inflation was 7.31%.

When using the core inflation measurement, $1 in 1978 is equivalent in buying power to $1.10 in 1979, a difference of $0.10. Recall that the converted amount is $1.11 when all items including food and energy are measured.

Comparison to S&P 500 Index

To help put this inflation into perspective, if we had invested $1 in the S&P 500 index in 1978, our investment would be nominally worth approximately $1.36 in 1979. This is a return on investment of 36.13%, with an absolute return of $0.36 on top of the original $1.

These numbers are not inflation adjusted, so they are considered nominal. In order to evaluate the real return on our investment, we must calculate the return with inflation taken into account.

The compounding effect of inflation would account for 10.19% of returns ($0.14) during this period. This means the inflation-adjusted real return of our $1 investment is $0.22. You may also want to account for capital gains tax, which would take your real return down to around $0 for most people.

Information displayed above may differ slightly from other S&P 500 calculators. Minor discrepancies can occur because we use the latest CPI data for inflation, annualized inflation numbers for previous years, and we compute S&P price and dividends from January of 1978 to latest available data for 1979 using average monthly close price.

For more details on the S&P 500 between 1978 and 1979, see the stock market returns calculator.

Data source & citation

Raw data for these calculations comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index (CPI), established in 1913. Price index data from 1774 to 1912 is sourced from a historical study conducted by political science professor Robert Sahr at Oregon State University and from the American Antiquarian Society. Price index data from 1634 to 1773 is from the American Antiquarian Society, using British pound equivalents.

» Read more about inflation and investment.