$100 in 1981 is worth $264 in 2016,
because prices increased 164.0% over that period, an average of
2.81% a year.
$100 in 1981 has
the same buying power as
$264
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
164.0%
Average inflation rate
2.81% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$264
Price difference ($100 base)
$164
CPI in 1981
90.9
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1981
10.32%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1981 → 2016
$264
$100 in 2016 → 1981
$37.87
What happened to prices between 1981 and 2016
Between 1981 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 90.9 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 164.0%, which works out to an average of
2.81% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1981 bought what
$0.38 buys in 2016: the 1981 dollar
lost 62.1% of its purchasing power over
these 35 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 2016 at the same ratio, 2.64: $1,000 becomes
$2,640, and $10,000 becomes $26,403.
Amount in 1981
Value in 2016
$1.00
$2.64
$5.00
$13.20
$10.00
$26.40
$20.00
$52.81
$50.00
$132
$100
$264
$500
$1,320
$1,000
$2,640
$5,000
$13,202
$10,000
$26,403
$100,000
$264,034
$1,000,000
$2,640,341
Inflation by spending category, 1981–2016
Between 1981 and 2016, medical care rose the most, up 459.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 32.3%, against 164.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1981
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1981 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.81%
$264
Medical care
5.04%
$559
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.96%
$278
Housing
2.88%
$270
Food
2.82%
$265
Transportation
2.13%
$209
Energy
1.91%
$194
Apparel
0.80%
$132
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1981: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1981 to 2016
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.12% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1981–2016 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$240
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$264
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1981
$100 from 1981 had already become $183 by
1999, on its way to $264 in 2016; 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 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: 2016
In 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1981 had the buying
power of $264; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1981 to 2016: $100 is worth $264 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1981-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1981 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1981-to-2016/