The year 1976 · in the United States and the world

What happened in 1976

The cost of living, the songs at #1, the news and the people in charge in 1976, rebuilt from public records. Born that year? Your exact day has its own story.

See your exact day →Prices in 1976#1 songsEvents

Gallon of gas

61¢

$4.48 today

President

Gerald Ford

Biggest #1

“Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)”

Rod Stewart

$1 then is

$5.91

in today’s money

01 · Cost of living

How much things cost in 1976

U.S. average prices for 1976, next to the latest official figure (Sep 2026). By the Consumer Price Index, $1 in 1976 buys what $5.91 buys today.

GENERAL STORE

U.S. AVERAGE PRICES · 1976

ITEM1976TODAYGallon of gasregular unleaded61¢$4.48Loaf of white breadper lb—$1.83Gallon of milkwhole—$4.11Dozen eggsgrade A large—$2.27Pound of coffeeground roast—$9.33Postage stampfirst-class letter13¢78¢Median new homeUS sale price$44,225$393,300Minimum wagefederal, per hour$2.30$7.25

GALLON OF GAS COSTS 7.3× WHAT IT DID

Yearly averages · wage and stamp on July 1
— = no official series for 1976 yet

Gas: drivers paid 61¢ for a gallon of regular in 1976. Filling a 15-gallon tank cost about $9.21, against roughly $67.23 now.

Housing: the median new home sold for $44,225, or about 9 years of full-time work at the minimum wage. Today the median is $393,300.

Mail: a first-class stamp cost 13¢. It is 78¢ now.

Stocks: the S&P 500 now stands about 75× its average level in 1976 (price only, before dividends and inflation).

Not yet tracked in 1976: loaf of white bread (official averages start in 1980), gallon of milk (official averages start in 1996), dozen eggs (official averages start in 1980), pound of coffee (official averages start in 1980). We leave these blank rather than guess.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics average prices, Census Bureau and Department of Labor viaFRED; USPS rate history; S&P from Robert Shiller’s public data.

02 · On the radio

The #1 songs of 1976

26 songs reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. The one that stayed longest:

“Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)”

Rod Stewart · 7 weeks at #1 in 1976

Tap the cover for a 30-second preview

Spotify ↗Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗
  1. Jan 3Saturday NightBay City Rollers1 wk
  2. Jan 10ConvoyC.W. McCall1 wk
  3. Jan 17I Write The SongsBarry Manilow1 wk
  4. Jan 24Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)Diana Ross1 wk
  5. Jan 31Love RollercoasterOhio Players1 wk
  6. Feb 750 Ways To Leave Your LoverPaul Simon3 wks
  7. Feb 28Theme From S.W.A.T.Rhythm Heritage1 wk
  8. Mar 6Love Machine (Part 1)The Miracles1 wk
  9. Mar 13December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)The 4 Seasons3 wks
  10. Apr 3Disco LadyJohnnie Taylor4 wks
  11. May 1Let Your Love FlowBellamy Brothers1 wk
  12. May 8Welcome BackJohn Sebastian1 wk
  13. May 15Boogie FeverThe Sylvers1 wk
  14. May 22Silly Love SongsWings5 wks
  15. May 29Love HangoverDiana Ross2 wks
  16. Jul 10Afternoon DelightStarland Vocal Band2 wks
  17. Jul 24Kiss And Say GoodbyeThe Manhattans2 wks
  18. Aug 7Don't Go Breaking My HeartElton John & Kiki Dee4 wks
  19. Sep 4You Should Be DancingBee Gees1 wk
  20. Sep 11(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your BootyKC And The Sunshine Band1 wk
  21. Sep 18Play That Funky MusicWild Cherry3 wks
  22. Oct 9A Fifth Of BeethovenWalter Murphy & The Big Apple Band1 wk
  23. Oct 16Disco Duck (Part I)Rick Dees & His Cast Of Idiots1 wk
  24. Oct 23If You Leave Me NowChicago2 wks
  25. Nov 6Rock'n MeSteve Miller1 wk
  26. Nov 13Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)Rod Stewart7 wks

Dates are the first chart week at #1 in 1976; weeks count only those in 1976.Find the #1 song on your birthday →

Your day, not just your year

Born in 1976? Meet your day.

The weather in your city, the moon over it and the song on the radio the day you arrived in 1976.

See your exact day →

The weather, the sky and the #1 song from that exact day, in your city

03 · The news

Major events of 1976

Moments from 1976 that are still remembered, in date order.

  1. Jan 12The United Nations Security Council votes 11–1 to allow the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate (without voting rights).
  2. Jan 21Concorde, an Anglo-French supersonic airliner, began scheduled commercial flights to London, Paris, Bahrain, and Rio de Janeiro.
  3. Feb 19Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps, is rescinded by President Gerald Ford's Proclamation 4417.
  4. Mar 27The Washington Metro, the second-busiest rapid transit system in the U.S., opened to commuters.
  5. Apr 1Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer, Inc..
  6. Apr 13The United States Treasury Department reintroduces the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson's 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.
  7. Apr 23The American band the Ramones released their debut album, which became highly influential on the emerging punk rock movement.
  8. Jun 29The Seychelles become independent from the United Kingdom.
  9. Jul 1Portugal grants autonomy to Madeira.
  10. Jul 25The orbiting spacecraft Viking 1 took a photograph of an apparent face on Mars in a classic example of pareidolia.
  11. Aug 1Trinidad and Tobago officially became a republic.
  12. Sep 17The Space Shuttle Enterprise is unveiled by NASA.
  13. Sep 21Seychelles joins the United Nations.
  14. Nov 3Carrie, an American supernatural horror film directed by Brian De Palma, is premiered in 17 theaters in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area.

Event summaries from Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Each links to its article.

04 · Who was in charge

The president and world leaders in 1976

  • U.S. President

    Gerald Ford

  • UK Prime Minister

    Harold Wilson → James Callaghan

  • Prime Minister of Canada

    Pierre Trudeau

  • President of France

    Valéry Giscard d'Estaing

  • German Chancellor

    Helmut Schmidt

  • Prime Minister of Japan

    Takeo Miki → Takeo Fukuda

  • Soviet leader

    Leonid Brezhnev

Everyone who held the office at some point in 1976, from Wikidata.

05 · At the movies and on TV

Films and TV of 1976

Best Picture at the 1976 Oscars

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

honouring films of 1975

The 1976 film that won next spring

Rocky

Best Picture at the 1977 Oscars

American films released

  • Taxi Driver
  • Rocky
  • All the President's Men
  • Carrie
  • Network
  • The Omen

New on American TV

  • The Muppet Show
  • Charlie's Angels
  • Family Feud
  • The Bionic Woman

A selection of the best-documented titles on Wikidata, by first release year; not a box-office ranking.

06 · Born in 1976

Famous people born in 1976

Anyone born in 1976 belongs to the Generation X (1965–1980).

From Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Quick answers

Quick answers about 1976

How much was gas in 1976?

A gallon of regular unleaded gas cost 61¢ on average in 1976, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The latest national average is $4.48 (Sep 2026), about 7.3× as much.

What was the #1 song of 1976?

“Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)” by Rod Stewart spent the most weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976: 7 weeks. 26 different songs reached #1 that year.

Who was president in 1976?

Gerald Ford was President of the United States for all of 1976.

How much is $1 from 1976 worth today?

Prices have risen about 5.9× since 1976, so $1 then buys what about $5.91 buys today, by the Consumer Price Index (Sep 2026). A first-class stamp cost 13¢ in 1976.

Your day, not just your year

1976 was the year. Which day was yours?

Pick your birthday and city. We’ll rebuild that day: the weather outside, the sky overhead, the song on the radio and what a dollar bought.

See your exact day →

The weather, the sky and the #1 song from that exact day, in your city