$100 in 1986 is worth $119 in 1990,
because prices increased 19.3% over that period, an average of
4.50% a year.
$100 in 1986 has
the same buying power as
$119
in 1990
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
19.3%
Average inflation rate
4.50% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$119
Price difference ($100 base)
$19.25
CPI in 1986
109.6
CPI in 1990
130.7
Inflation in 1986
1.86%
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
$100 in 1986 → 1990
$119
$100 in 1990 → 1986
$83.86
What happened to prices between 1986 and 1990
Between 1986 and 1990, the Consumer Price Index went from 109.6 to 130.7.
Cumulatively, prices increased 19.3%, which works out to an average of
4.50% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1986 bought what
$0.84 buys in 1990: the 1986 dollar
lost 16.1% of its purchasing power over
these 4 years.
1986 delivered the decade’s biggest one-year drop in inflation, and it came
almost entirely from a single source: oil. Saudi Arabia abandoned its policy
of restraining output to prop up prices, and world crude collapsed from
about $27 a barrel to under $10 by midyear. Gasoline, which had averaged
$1.12 a gallon in 1985, fell to 86 cents. With energy costs plunging,
headline CPI inflation for the year came in at just 1.9%, the lowest annual
rate since 1965 and a striking bookend to 1980’s 13.5% peak. The relief was
uneven: prices for most goods and services outside energy kept rising at a
moderate pace, so households that didn’t drive much or heat with oil felt
less of the difference. In October, Congress passed the Tax Reform Act of
1986, a bipartisan overhaul that cut the top individual income tax rate from
50% to 28% while closing many deductions and shelters, the broadest rewrite
of the federal tax code since World War II. Between cheap gas and falling
interest rates, 1986 read like proof that the inflationary 1970s were a
closed chapter, six years after the U.S. economy had felt anything but
calm.
Every 1986 amount converts to 1990 at the same ratio, 1.19: $1,000 becomes
$1,193, and $10,000 becomes $11,925.
Amount in 1986
Value in 1990
$1.00
$1.19
$5.00
$5.96
$10.00
$11.93
$20.00
$23.85
$50.00
$59.63
$100
$119
$500
$596
$1,000
$1,193
$5,000
$5,963
$10,000
$11,925
$100,000
$119,252
$1,000,000
$1,192,518
Inflation by spending category, 1986–1990
Between 1986 and 1990, medical care rose the most, up 33.4%, while energy rose the least, up 15.8%, against 19.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1986
spending costs in 1990, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1986 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.50%
$119
Medical care
7.48%
$133
Food
4.98%
$121
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.53%
$119
Transportation
4.18%
$118
Apparel
4.04%
$117
Housing
3.75%
$116
Energy
3.73%
$116
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1986: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1986
$100 from 1986 had already become $108 by
1988, on its way to $119 in 1990; 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 the smallest rise was 3.6% in 1987.
In 1990, prices rose 5.4% and $100 from 1986 had the buying
power of $119; the year's average CPI of 130.7 is the level
behind every 1990 figure on this page.
In 1990, the median U.S. household earned about $29,900, gas averaged $1.15 a
gallon, and mailing a letter cost a quarter. Inflation ran hot at 5.4% for the
year, its highest rate since 1982, pushed up by an oil shock after Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait, and the economy tipped into recession that summer. It was
the last gasp of elevated inflation before the long calm of the 1990s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1986 to 1990: $100 is worth $119 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-1990/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1986 to 1990. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-1990/