$100 in 1980 is worth $283 in 2013,
because prices increased 182.7% over that period, an average of
3.20% a year.
$100 in 1980 has
the same buying power as
$283
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
182.7%
Average inflation rate
3.20% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$283
Price difference ($100 base)
$183
CPI in 1980
82.4
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1980
13.50%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1980 → 2013
$283
$100 in 2013 → 1980
$35.37
What happened to prices between 1980 and 2013
Between 1980 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 82.4 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 182.7%, which works out to an average of
3.20% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1980 bought what
$0.35 buys in 2013: the 1980 dollar
lost 64.6% of its purchasing power over
these 33 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 2013 at the same ratio, 2.83: $1,000 becomes
$2,827, and $10,000 becomes $28,271.
Amount in 1980
Value in 2013
$1.00
$2.83
$5.00
$14.14
$10.00
$28.27
$20.00
$56.54
$50.00
$141
$100
$283
$500
$1,414
$1,000
$2,827
$5,000
$14,136
$10,000
$28,271
$100,000
$282,715
$1,000,000
$2,827,148
Inflation by spending category, 1980–2013
Between 1980 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 467.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 40.2%, against 182.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1980
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1980 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.20%
$283
Medical care
5.40%
$568
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.27%
$289
Energy
3.22%
$284
Housing
3.17%
$280
Food
3.09%
$273
Transportation
2.96%
$262
Apparel
1.03%
$140
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1980: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1980 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.72% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1980–2013 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$265
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$283
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1980
$100 from 1980 had already become $190 by
1996, on its way to $283 in 2013; 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 prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1980 had the buying
power of $283; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1980 to 2013: $100 is worth $283 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1980-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1980 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1980-to-2013/