$100 in 1981 is worth $237 in 2008,
because prices increased 136.9% over that period, an average of
3.25% a year.
$100 in 1981 has
the same buying power as
$237
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
136.9%
Average inflation rate
3.25% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$237
Price difference ($100 base)
$137
CPI in 1981
90.9
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1981
10.32%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1981 → 2008
$237
$100 in 2008 → 1981
$42.22
What happened to prices between 1981 and 2008
Between 1981 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 90.9 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 136.9%, which works out to an average of
3.25% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1981 bought what
$0.42 buys in 2008: the 1981 dollar
lost 57.8% of its purchasing power over
these 27 years.
1981 was the year the inflation fever finally broke, at an extraordinary price.
Consumer prices rose 10.3%, the second year of back-to-back double-digit
inflation and the last time the U.S. would see one. To end it, Paul Volcker’s
Federal Reserve drove its policy rate above 19% and let borrowing costs go
where they may: a 30-year mortgage cost more than 18% by autumn, car loans and
business credit froze, and homebuilders mailed the Fed two-by-fours in protest.
The squeeze tipped the economy into recession in July, the deep 1981–82
downturn that would push unemployment past 10%. But it worked. Inflation fell
by nearly half within a year and to under 4% by 1983, the disinflation that
defined the following two decades. Even the price of mailing a letter told the
year’s story: postage went up twice in eight months.
Every 1981 amount converts to 2008 at the same ratio, 2.37: $1,000 becomes
$2,369, and $10,000 becomes $23,686.
Amount in 1981
Value in 2008
$1.00
$2.37
$5.00
$11.84
$10.00
$23.69
$20.00
$47.37
$50.00
$118
$100
$237
$500
$1,184
$1,000
$2,369
$5,000
$11,843
$10,000
$23,686
$100,000
$236,857
$1,000,000
$2,368,570
Inflation by spending category, 1981–2008
Between 1981 and 2008, medical care rose the most, up 339.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 24.8%, against 136.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1981
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1981 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.25%
$237
Medical care
5.63%
$439
Energy
3.33%
$242
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.32%
$242
Housing
3.28%
$239
Food
3.11%
$229
Transportation
2.78%
$210
Apparel
0.82%
$125
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1981: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1981 to 2008
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.12% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1981–2008 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1981, at end
1981–1990
4.12%
43.8%
$144
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$189
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$237
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1981
$100 from 1981 had already become $163 by
1994, on its way to $237 in 2008; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 6.2% in 1982, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1981 had the buying
power of $237; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1981 to 2008: $100 is worth $237 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1981-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1981 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1981-to-2008/