U.S. inflation · 1980–1982

Value of $100 in 1980, adjusted to 1982

$100 in 1980 has the same buying power as

$117

in 1982

$100$109$117198019811982$100 · 1980$117 · 1982
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change17.1%
Average inflation rate8.22% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)$117
Price difference ($100 base)$17.11
CPI in 198082.4
CPI in 198296.5
Inflation in 198013.50%
Inflation in 19826.16%
$100 in 19801982$117
$100 in 19821980$85.39

What happened to prices between 1980 and 1982

Between 1980 and 1982, the Consumer Price Index went from 82.4 to 96.5. Cumulatively, prices increased 17.1%, which works out to an average of 8.22% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1980 bought what $0.85 buys in 1982.

1980 sat at the very peak of the Great Inflation. Prices rose 13.5% in that single year, mortgage rates were climbing toward 16%, and the Federal Reserve under Paul Volcker was administering the painful interest-rate medicine that would finally break the inflationary spiral, at the cost of the deep 1981–82 recession. No single year looms larger in how Americans think about inflation.

More about inflation in 1980 →

Common amounts: 1980 dollars in 1982

Amount in 1980Value in 1982
$1.00$1.17
$5.00$5.86
$10.00$11.71
$20.00$23.42
$50.00$58.56
$100$117
$500$586
$1,000$1,171
$5,000$5,856
$10,000$11,711
$100,000$117,112
$1,000,000$1,171,117

Inflation by spending category, 1980–1982

The headline number is an average. Individual categories moved very differently over this period. Here is what $100 of 1980 spending costs in 1982, by category:

Category Avg. yearly inflation $100 in 1980 →
All items (CPI-U) 8.22% $117
Medical care 11.13% $123
Housing 9.31% $119
Core (all items less food & energy) 8.89% $119
Transportation 8.04% $117
Energy 7.40% $115
Food 5.93% $112
Apparel 3.73% $108

Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1980: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).

Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1980

Year CPI Inflation rate $100 from 1980
1980 82.4 13.5% $100
1981 90.9 10.3% $110
1982 96.5 6.2% $117

Cite this page

MLA: “Inflation from 1980 to 1982: $100 is worth $117 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1980-to-1982/

APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1980 to 1982. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1980-to-1982/

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages (series CUUR0000SA0; category indexes listed on the data sources page). See how these numbers are calculated.