$100 in 1985 is worth $165 in 2001,
because prices increased 64.6% over that period, an average of
3.16% a year.
$100 in 1985 has
the same buying power as
$165
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
64.6%
Average inflation rate
3.16% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$165
Price difference ($100 base)
$64.59
CPI in 1985
107.6
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1985
3.56%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1985 → 2001
$165
$100 in 2001 → 1985
$60.76
What happened to prices between 1985 and 2001
Between 1985 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 107.6 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 64.6%, which works out to an average of
3.16% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1985 bought what
$0.61 buys in 2001: the 1985 dollar
lost 39.2% of its purchasing power over
these 16 years.
By 1985, low inflation had become the norm rather than the exception.
Consumer prices rose 3.6% for the year, the fourth straight year in the
3-6% range following the double-digit spikes of 1980 and 1981, proof that
the disinflation had held rather than merely paused, as it had after
previous recessions. Overseas, the dollar had become a problem of its own:
years of high U.S. interest rates had pulled in foreign capital and pushed
the dollar’s value up so far that American exporters were losing business
abroad, widening the trade deficit. In September, the finance ministers of
the U.S., Japan, West Germany, France, and the United Kingdom met at New
York’s Plaza Hotel and agreed to coordinate a managed decline of the
dollar; it fell roughly 25% against major currencies over the following two
years. At home, Congress responded to a federal deficit that had roughly
tripled since 1980 by passing the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act in December,
setting binding targets to shrink the deficit with automatic
across-the-board cuts if lawmakers missed them. Households felt the calmer
economy in small ways: first-class postage rose to 22 cents in February,
its first increase since November 1981, after nearly four years at 20
cents.
Every 1985 amount converts to 2001 at the same ratio, 1.65: $1,000 becomes
$1,646, and $10,000 becomes $16,459.
Amount in 1985
Value in 2001
$1.00
$1.65
$5.00
$8.23
$10.00
$16.46
$20.00
$32.92
$50.00
$82.30
$100
$165
$500
$823
$1,000
$1,646
$5,000
$8,230
$10,000
$16,459
$100,000
$164,591
$1,000,000
$1,645,911
Inflation by spending category, 1985–2001
Between 1985 and 2001, medical care rose the most, up 140.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 21.2%, against 64.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1985
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1985 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.16%
$165
Medical care
5.63%
$240
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.39%
$171
Food
3.14%
$164
Housing
3.13%
$164
Transportation
2.35%
$145
Energy
1.52%
$127
Apparel
1.21%
$121
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1985: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1985 to 2001
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 3.97% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1985–2001 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1985, at end
1985–1990
3.97%
21.5%
$121
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$160
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$165
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1985
$100 from 1985 had already become $134 by
1993, on its way to $165 in 2001; 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 the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1985 had the buying
power of $165; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1985 to 2001: $100 is worth $165 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1985 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2001/