$100 in 1985 is worth $283 in 2023,
because prices increased 183.2% over that period, an average of
2.78% a year.
$100 in 1985 has
the same buying power as
$283
in 2023
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
183.2%
Average inflation rate
2.78% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$283
Price difference ($100 base)
$183
CPI in 1985
107.6
CPI in 2023
304.702
Inflation in 1985
3.56%
Inflation in 2023
4.12%
$100 in 1985 → 2023
$283
$100 in 2023 → 1985
$35.31
What happened to prices between 1985 and 2023
Between 1985 and 2023, the Consumer Price Index went from 107.6 to 304.702.
Cumulatively, prices increased 183.2%, which works out to an average of
2.78% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1985 bought what
$0.35 buys in 2023: the 1985 dollar
lost 64.7% of its purchasing power over
these 38 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 2023 at the same ratio, 2.83: $1,000 becomes
$2,832, and $10,000 becomes $28,318.
Amount in 1985
Value in 2023
$1.00
$2.83
$5.00
$14.16
$10.00
$28.32
$20.00
$56.64
$50.00
$142
$100
$283
$500
$1,416
$1,000
$2,832
$5,000
$14,159
$10,000
$28,318
$100,000
$283,180
$1,000,000
$2,831,803
Inflation by spending category, 1985–2023
Between 1985 and 2023, medical care rose the most, up 383.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 24.4%, against 183.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1985
spending costs in 2023, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1985 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.78%
$283
Medical care
4.24%
$484
Food
2.99%
$306
Housing
2.91%
$297
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.77%
$283
Energy
2.74%
$279
Transportation
2.45%
$251
Apparel
0.58%
$124
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1985: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1985 to 2023
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 5.59% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1985–2023 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$241
2020–2023
5.59%
17.7%
$283
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1985
$100 from 1985 had already become $171 by
2003, on its way to $283 in 2023; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 8.0% in 2022, 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: 2023
In 2023, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1985 had the buying
power of $283; the year's average CPI of 304.702 is the level
behind every 2023 figure on this page.
2023 was the year inflation came down without a recession. Consumer prices
rose 4.1% on average, roughly half of 2022’s 8.0%, and the December-to-December
rate fell to 3.4%. Gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon, well below the 2022
average, and supply-chain pressure on goods eased. Shelter, restaurant meals,
and other services stayed expensive, so the CPI kept rising at a rate well
above the pre-pandemic pace.
The Federal Reserve completed its rate-hiking campaign in July, taking the
policy rate to 5.25–5.50%, the highest level in 22 years. The effects showed
up in banking: Silicon Valley Bank failed in March after rate increases eroded
the value of its bond portfolio, the second-largest bank failure in U.S.
history at the time. Despite that, unemployment stayed under 4% all year.
Median household income was $80,610 according to the Census Bureau. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp rose to 66 cents
in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1985 to 2023: $100 is worth $283 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2023/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1985 to 2023. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2023/