$100 in 1985 is worth $223 in 2016,
because prices increased 123.1% over that period, an average of
2.62% a year.
$100 in 1985 has
the same buying power as
$223
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
123.1%
Average inflation rate
2.62% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$223
Price difference ($100 base)
$123
CPI in 1985
107.6
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1985
3.56%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1985 → 2016
$223
$100 in 2016 → 1985
$44.83
What happened to prices between 1985 and 2016
Between 1985 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 107.6 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 123.1%, which works out to an average of
2.62% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1985 bought what
$0.45 buys in 2016: the 1985 dollar
lost 55.2% of its purchasing power over
these 31 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 2016 at the same ratio, 2.23: $1,000 becomes
$2,231, and $10,000 becomes $22,305.
Amount in 1985
Value in 2016
$1.00
$2.23
$5.00
$11.15
$10.00
$22.31
$20.00
$44.61
$50.00
$112
$100
$223
$500
$1,115
$1,000
$2,231
$5,000
$11,153
$10,000
$22,305
$100,000
$223,055
$1,000,000
$2,230,548
Inflation by spending category, 1985–2016
Between 1985 and 2016, medical care rose the most, up 308.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 20.0%, against 123.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1985
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1985 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.62%
$223
Medical care
4.64%
$409
Food
2.79%
$235
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.68%
$227
Housing
2.67%
$227
Energy
2.03%
$187
Transportation
1.97%
$183
Apparel
0.59%
$120
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1985: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1985 to 2016
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 3.97% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1985–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$223
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1985
$100 from 1985 had already become $165 by
2001, on its way to $223 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 1985 had the buying
power of $223; 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 1985 to 2016: $100 is worth $223 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1985 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2016/