$100 in 1985 is worth $228 in 2017,
because prices increased 127.8% over that period, an average of
2.61% a year.
$100 in 1985 has
the same buying power as
$228
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
127.8%
Average inflation rate
2.61% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$228
Price difference ($100 base)
$128
CPI in 1985
107.6
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 1985
3.56%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 1985 → 2017
$228
$100 in 2017 → 1985
$43.90
What happened to prices between 1985 and 2017
Between 1985 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 107.6 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 127.8%, which works out to an average of
2.61% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1985 bought what
$0.44 buys in 2017: the 1985 dollar
lost 56.1% of its purchasing power over
these 32 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 2017 at the same ratio, 2.28: $1,000 becomes
$2,278, and $10,000 becomes $22,781.
Amount in 1985
Value in 2017
$1.00
$2.28
$5.00
$11.39
$10.00
$22.78
$20.00
$45.56
$50.00
$114
$100
$228
$500
$1,139
$1,000
$2,278
$5,000
$11,390
$10,000
$22,781
$100,000
$227,807
$1,000,000
$2,278,067
Inflation by spending category, 1985–2017
Between 1985 and 2017, medical care rose the most, up 318.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 19.6%, against 127.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1985
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1985 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.61%
$228
Medical care
4.58%
$419
Food
2.73%
$237
Housing
2.68%
$233
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.65%
$231
Energy
2.21%
$201
Transportation
2.02%
$189
Apparel
0.56%
$120
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1985: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1985 to 2017
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 3.97% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1985–2017 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
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$228
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1985
$100 from 1985 had already become $165 by
2001, on its way to $228 in 2017; 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: 2017
In 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1985 had the buying
power of $228; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1985 to 2017: $100 is worth $228 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1985 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2017/