$100 in 1981 is worth $322 in 2022,
because prices increased 222.0% over that period, an average of
2.89% a year.
$100 in 1981 has
the same buying power as
$322
in 2022
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
222.0%
Average inflation rate
2.89% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$322
Price difference ($100 base)
$222
CPI in 1981
90.9
CPI in 2022
292.655
Inflation in 1981
10.32%
Inflation in 2022
8.00%
$100 in 1981 → 2022
$322
$100 in 2022 → 1981
$31.06
What happened to prices between 1981 and 2022
Between 1981 and 2022, the Consumer Price Index went from 90.9 to 292.655.
Cumulatively, prices increased 222.0%, which works out to an average of
2.89% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1981 bought what
$0.31 buys in 2022: the 1981 dollar
lost 68.9% of its purchasing power over
these 41 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 2022 at the same ratio, 3.22: $1,000 becomes
$3,220, and $10,000 becomes $32,195.
Amount in 1981
Value in 2022
$1.00
$3.22
$5.00
$16.10
$10.00
$32.20
$20.00
$64.39
$50.00
$161
$100
$322
$500
$1,610
$1,000
$3,220
$5,000
$16,098
$10,000
$32,195
$100,000
$321,953
$1,000,000
$3,219,527
Inflation by spending category, 1981–2022
Between 1981 and 2022, medical care rose the most, up 559.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 33.3%, against 222.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1981
spending costs in 2022, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1981 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.89%
$322
Medical care
4.71%
$659
Housing
2.98%
$333
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.95%
$330
Food
2.93%
$326
Energy
2.76%
$305
Transportation
2.59%
$286
Apparel
0.70%
$133
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1981: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1981 to 2022
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 6.34% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1981–2022 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$285
2020–2022
6.34%
13.1%
$322
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1981
$100 from 1981 had already become $195 by
2001, on its way to $322 in 2022; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 8.0% in 2022, 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: 2022
In 2022, prices rose 8.0% and $100 from 1981 had the buying
power of $322; the year's average CPI of 292.655 is the level
behind every 2022 figure on this page.
2022 was the year inflation returned. Consumer prices rose 8.0% on average,
the worst since 1981, driven by pandemic-era supply chains, stimulus-fueled
demand, and an energy shock from the war in Ukraine. Gas briefly topped $5 a
gallon nationally for the first time ever, and “inflation” became the
top-ranked economic concern in nearly every poll of American households.
MLA: “Inflation from 1981 to 2022: $100 is worth $322 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1981-to-2022/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1981 to 2022. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1981-to-2022/