$100 in 1981 is worth $281 in 2019,
because prices increased 181.3% over that period, an average of
2.76% a year.
$100 in 1981 has
the same buying power as
$281
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
181.3%
Average inflation rate
2.76% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$281
Price difference ($100 base)
$181
CPI in 1981
90.9
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 1981
10.32%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 1981 → 2019
$281
$100 in 2019 → 1981
$35.56
What happened to prices between 1981 and 2019
Between 1981 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 90.9 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 181.3%, which works out to an average of
2.76% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1981 bought what
$0.36 buys in 2019: the 1981 dollar
lost 64.4% of its purchasing power over
these 38 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 2019 at the same ratio, 2.81: $1,000 becomes
$2,813, and $10,000 becomes $28,125.
Amount in 1981
Value in 2019
$1.00
$2.81
$5.00
$14.06
$10.00
$28.13
$20.00
$56.25
$50.00
$141
$100
$281
$500
$1,406
$1,000
$2,813
$5,000
$14,063
$10,000
$28,125
$100,000
$281,251
$1,000,000
$2,812,508
Inflation by spending category, 1981–2019
Between 1981 and 2019, medical care rose the most, up 501.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 30.2%, against 181.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1981
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1981 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.76%
$281
Medical care
4.83%
$601
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.89%
$295
Housing
2.88%
$294
Food
2.71%
$276
Transportation
2.16%
$225
Energy
2.10%
$220
Apparel
0.70%
$130
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1981: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1981 to 2019
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.12% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1981–2019 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
2010–2019
1.78%
17.2%
$281
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1981
$100 from 1981 had already become $183 by
1999, on its way to $281 in 2019; 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: 2019
In 2019, prices rose 1.8% and $100 from 1981 had the buying
power of $281; the year's average CPI of 255.657 is the level
behind every 2019 figure on this page.
2019 was the last ordinary year before COVID-19. Consumer prices rose 1.8%,
slightly under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with gasoline averaging
$2.60 a gallon. Median household income jumped to $68,703, the highest on
record up to that point, and the median new home sold for about $328,000. A
first-class stamp rose to 55 cents.
The Fed reversed course. After four increases in 2018, it cut rates three
times, to 1.50–1.75%, citing slower global growth, trade tensions, and low
inflation. In July the expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in
U.S. records, and in August the yield curve briefly inverted, a signal
investors read as a recession warning.
For workers at the bottom of the pay scale, 2019 marked a milestone of a
different kind. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and reached its tenth
year without an increase, the longest gap since the wage was first set. Because
prices had climbed about 19% since it was last raised in 2009, its buying power
was lower than at any point in that span.
MLA: “Inflation from 1981 to 2019: $100 is worth $281 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1981-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1981 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1981-to-2019/