$100 in 1984 is worth $231 in 2016,
because prices increased 131.0% over that period, an average of
2.65% a year.
$100 in 1984 has
the same buying power as
$231
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
131.0%
Average inflation rate
2.65% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$231
Price difference ($100 base)
$131
CPI in 1984
103.9
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1984
4.32%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1984 → 2016
$231
$100 in 2016 → 1984
$43.29
What happened to prices between 1984 and 2016
Between 1984 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 103.9 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 131.0%, which works out to an average of
2.65% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1984 bought what
$0.43 buys in 2016: the 1984 dollar
lost 56.7% of its purchasing power over
these 32 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 2016 at the same ratio, 2.31: $1,000 becomes
$2,310, and $10,000 becomes $23,100.
Amount in 1984
Value in 2016
$1.00
$2.31
$5.00
$11.55
$10.00
$23.10
$20.00
$46.20
$50.00
$115
$100
$231
$500
$1,155
$1,000
$2,310
$5,000
$11,550
$10,000
$23,100
$100,000
$230,998
$1,000,000
$2,309,981
Inflation by spending category, 1984–2016
Between 1984 and 2016, medical care rose the most, up 334.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 23.5%, against 131.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1984
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1984 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.65%
$231
Medical care
4.70%
$434
Food
2.78%
$240
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.73%
$237
Housing
2.71%
$235
Transportation
1.99%
$188
Energy
1.99%
$188
Apparel
0.66%
$123
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1984: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1984 to 2016
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 3.90% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1984–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$231
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1984
$100 from 1984 had already become $166 by
2000, on its way to $231 in 2016; 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.
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 1984 had the buying
power of $231; 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 1984 to 2016: $100 is worth $231 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1984-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1984 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1984-to-2016/