$100 in 1980 is worth $215 in 2001,
because prices increased 114.9% over that period, an average of
3.71% a year.
$100 in 1980 has
the same buying power as
$215
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
114.9%
Average inflation rate
3.71% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$215
Price difference ($100 base)
$115
CPI in 1980
82.4
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1980
13.50%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1980 → 2001
$215
$100 in 2001 → 1980
$46.53
What happened to prices between 1980 and 2001
Between 1980 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 82.4 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 114.9%, which works out to an average of
3.71% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1980 bought what
$0.47 buys in 2001: the 1980 dollar
lost 53.5% of its purchasing power over
these 21 years.
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.
Every 1980 amount converts to 2001 at the same ratio, 2.15: $1,000 becomes
$2,149, and $10,000 becomes $21,493.
Amount in 1980
Value in 2001
$1.00
$2.15
$5.00
$10.75
$10.00
$21.49
$20.00
$42.99
$50.00
$107
$100
$215
$500
$1,075
$1,000
$2,149
$5,000
$10,746
$10,000
$21,493
$100,000
$214,927
$1,000,000
$2,149,272
Inflation by spending category, 1980–2001
Between 1980 and 2001, medical care rose the most, up 264.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 40.0%, against 114.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1980
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1980 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.71%
$215
Medical care
6.35%
$364
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.05%
$230
Housing
3.77%
$218
Food
3.34%
$199
Transportation
2.99%
$186
Energy
1.96%
$150
Apparel
1.62%
$140
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1980: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1980 to 2001
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.72% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1980–2001 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1980, at end
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$159
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$209
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$215
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1980
$100 from 1980 had already become $159 by
1990, on its way to $215 in 2001; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 10.3% in 1981, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1980 had the buying
power of $215; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1980 to 2001: $100 is worth $215 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1980-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1980 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1980-to-2001/