$100 in 1985 is worth $220 in 2014,
because prices increased 120.0% over that period, an average of
2.76% a year.
$100 in 1985 has
the same buying power as
$220
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
120.0%
Average inflation rate
2.76% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$220
Price difference ($100 base)
$120
CPI in 1985
107.6
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1985
3.56%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1985 → 2014
$220
$100 in 2014 → 1985
$45.45
What happened to prices between 1985 and 2014
Between 1985 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 107.6 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 120.0%, which works out to an average of
2.76% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1985 bought what
$0.45 buys in 2014: the 1985 dollar
lost 54.5% of its purchasing power over
these 29 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 2014 at the same ratio, 2.20: $1,000 becomes
$2,200, and $10,000 becomes $22,001.
Amount in 1985
Value in 2014
$1.00
$2.20
$5.00
$11.00
$10.00
$22.00
$20.00
$44.00
$50.00
$110
$100
$220
$500
$1,100
$1,000
$2,200
$5,000
$11,001
$10,000
$22,001
$100,000
$220,015
$1,000,000
$2,200,149
Inflation by spending category, 1985–2014
Between 1985 and 2014, medical care rose the most, up 283.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 21.4%, against 120.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1985
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1985 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.76%
$220
Medical care
4.74%
$384
Energy
3.06%
$240
Food
2.91%
$230
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.72%
$218
Housing
2.70%
$217
Transportation
2.47%
$203
Apparel
0.67%
$121
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1985: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1985 to 2014
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 3.97% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1985–2014 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
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$220
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1985
$100 from 1985 had already become $155 by
1999, on its way to $220 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 1985 had the buying
power of $220; 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 1985 to 2014: $100 is worth $220 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1985 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2014/