$100 in 1984 is worth $224 in 2013,
because prices increased 124.2% over that period, an average of
2.82% a year.
$100 in 1984 has
the same buying power as
$224
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
124.2%
Average inflation rate
2.82% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$224
Price difference ($100 base)
$124
CPI in 1984
103.9
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1984
4.32%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1984 → 2013
$224
$100 in 2013 → 1984
$44.60
What happened to prices between 1984 and 2013
Between 1984 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 103.9 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 124.2%, which works out to an average of
2.82% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1984 bought what
$0.45 buys in 2013: the 1984 dollar
lost 55.4% of its purchasing power over
these 29 years.
1984 was the year the recovery became a boom. Real GDP grew 7.2%, the
fastest calendar-year growth since 1951, as the tax cuts passed in 1981
combined with falling interest rates and rebuilding consumer confidence.
Unemployment, which had topped 10.8% just two years earlier, fell below
7.5%. Inflation ticked up to 4.3% from 3.2% the year before, but nothing
close to a return of the 1970s wage-price spiral: the Federal Reserve under
Paul Volcker kept policy tight enough to hold the line while growth ran hot.
The strength of the expansion, branded “Morning in America” in President
Reagan’s reelection campaign, carried him to a 49-state landslide over
Walter Mondale that November, at the time the widest electoral-vote margin
in U.S. history. For households, the numbers behind the slogan were
concrete: median income rose to about $22,400, and a gallon of gas cost
$1.13, roughly what it had cost three years earlier even as wages kept
climbing. The contrast with 1980, when 13.5% inflation and interest rates
near 20% had defined the economy, could not have been sharper.
Every 1984 amount converts to 2013 at the same ratio, 2.24: $1,000 becomes
$2,242, and $10,000 becomes $22,421.
Amount in 1984
Value in 2013
$1.00
$2.24
$5.00
$11.21
$10.00
$22.42
$20.00
$44.84
$50.00
$112
$100
$224
$500
$1,121
$1,000
$2,242
$5,000
$11,211
$10,000
$22,421
$100,000
$224,213
$1,000,000
$2,242,127
Inflation by spending category, 1984–2013
Between 1984 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 298.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 24.8%, against 124.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1984
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1984 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.82%
$224
Medical care
4.88%
$398
Energy
3.10%
$242
Food
2.91%
$230
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.81%
$224
Housing
2.75%
$219
Transportation
2.59%
$210
Apparel
0.77%
$125
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1984: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1984 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 3.90% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1984–2013 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1984, at end
1984–1990
3.90%
25.8%
$126
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$166
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$210
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$224
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1984
$100 from 1984 had already become $157 by
1998, on its way to $224 in 2013; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 5.4% in 1990, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1984 had the buying
power of $224; 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 1984 to 2013: $100 is worth $224 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1984-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1984 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1984-to-2013/