$100 in 1985 is worth $203 in 2010,
because prices increased 102.7% over that period, an average of
2.87% a year.
$100 in 1985 has
the same buying power as
$203
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
102.7%
Average inflation rate
2.87% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$203
Price difference ($100 base)
$103
CPI in 1985
107.6
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 1985
3.56%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 1985 → 2010
$203
$100 in 2010 → 1985
$49.35
What happened to prices between 1985 and 2010
Between 1985 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 107.6 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 102.7%, which works out to an average of
2.87% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1985 bought what
$0.49 buys in 2010: the 1985 dollar
lost 50.7% of its purchasing power over
these 25 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 2010 at the same ratio, 2.03: $1,000 becomes
$2,027, and $10,000 becomes $20,265.
Amount in 1985
Value in 2010
$1.00
$2.03
$5.00
$10.13
$10.00
$20.27
$20.00
$40.53
$50.00
$101
$100
$203
$500
$1,013
$1,000
$2,027
$5,000
$10,133
$10,000
$20,265
$100,000
$202,654
$1,000,000
$2,026,543
Inflation by spending category, 1985–2010
Between 1985 and 2010, medical care rose the most, up 242.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 13.8%, against 102.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1985
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1985 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.87%
$203
Medical care
5.04%
$342
Energy
2.98%
$208
Food
2.97%
$208
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.87%
$203
Housing
2.83%
$201
Transportation
2.42%
$182
Apparel
0.52%
$114
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1985: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1985 to 2010
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 3.97% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.39% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1985–2010 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$203
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1985
$100 from 1985 had already become $149 by
1997, on its way to $203 in 2010; 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 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1985 had the buying
power of $203; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 1985 to 2010: $100 is worth $203 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1985 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2010/