$100 in 1985 is worth $233 in 2018,
because prices increased 133.4% over that period, an average of
2.60% a year.
$100 in 1985 has
the same buying power as
$233
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
133.4%
Average inflation rate
2.60% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$233
Price difference ($100 base)
$133
CPI in 1985
107.6
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 1985
3.56%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 1985 → 2018
$233
$100 in 2018 → 1985
$42.85
What happened to prices between 1985 and 2018
Between 1985 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 107.6 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 133.4%, which works out to an average of
2.60% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1985 bought what
$0.43 buys in 2018: the 1985 dollar
lost 57.1% of its purchasing power over
these 33 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 2018 at the same ratio, 2.33: $1,000 becomes
$2,334, and $10,000 becomes $23,337.
Amount in 1985
Value in 2018
$1.00
$2.33
$5.00
$11.67
$10.00
$23.34
$20.00
$46.67
$50.00
$117
$100
$233
$500
$1,167
$1,000
$2,334
$5,000
$11,669
$10,000
$23,337
$100,000
$233,371
$1,000,000
$2,333,708
Inflation by spending category, 1985–2018
Between 1985 and 2018, medical care rose the most, up 327.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 19.7%, against 133.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1985
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1985 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.60%
$233
Medical care
4.50%
$427
Food
2.69%
$240
Housing
2.69%
$240
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.64%
$236
Energy
2.37%
$216
Transportation
2.09%
$198
Apparel
0.55%
$120
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1985: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1985 to 2018
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 3.97% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1985–2018 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
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$233
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1985
$100 from 1985 had already become $165 by
2001, on its way to $233 in 2018; 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: 2018
In 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 1985 had the buying
power of $233; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1985 to 2018: $100 is worth $233 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1985 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2018/