$100 in 1984 is worth $228 in 2014,
because prices increased 127.8% over that period, an average of
2.78% a year.
$100 in 1984 has
the same buying power as
$228
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
127.8%
Average inflation rate
2.78% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$228
Price difference ($100 base)
$128
CPI in 1984
103.9
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1984
4.32%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1984 → 2014
$228
$100 in 2014 → 1984
$43.89
What happened to prices between 1984 and 2014
Between 1984 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 103.9 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 127.8%, which works out to an average of
2.78% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1984 bought what
$0.44 buys in 2014: the 1984 dollar
lost 56.1% of its purchasing power over
these 30 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 2014 at the same ratio, 2.28: $1,000 becomes
$2,278, and $10,000 becomes $22,785.
Amount in 1984
Value in 2014
$1.00
$2.28
$5.00
$11.39
$10.00
$22.78
$20.00
$45.57
$50.00
$114
$100
$228
$500
$1,139
$1,000
$2,278
$5,000
$11,392
$10,000
$22,785
$100,000
$227,850
$1,000,000
$2,278,499
Inflation by spending category, 1984–2014
Between 1984 and 2014, medical care rose the most, up 307.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 24.9%, against 127.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1984
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1984 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.78%
$228
Medical care
4.79%
$408
Energy
2.98%
$241
Food
2.89%
$235
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.78%
$227
Housing
2.74%
$225
Transportation
2.48%
$208
Apparel
0.74%
$125
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1984: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1984 to 2014
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 3.90% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1984–2014 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
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$228
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1984
$100 from 1984 had already become $160 by
1999, on its way to $228 in 2014; 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 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1984 had the buying
power of $228; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1984 to 2014: $100 is worth $228 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1984-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1984 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1984-to-2014/