$100 in 1986 is worth $157 in 2000,
because prices increased 57.1% over that period, an average of
3.28% a year.
$100 in 1986 has
the same buying power as
$157
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
57.1%
Average inflation rate
3.28% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$157
Price difference ($100 base)
$57.12
CPI in 1986
109.6
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1986
1.86%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1986 → 2000
$157
$100 in 2000 → 1986
$63.65
What happened to prices between 1986 and 2000
Between 1986 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 109.6 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 57.1%, which works out to an average of
3.28% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1986 bought what
$0.64 buys in 2000: the 1986 dollar
lost 36.4% of its purchasing power over
these 14 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 2000 at the same ratio, 1.57: $1,000 becomes
$1,571, and $10,000 becomes $15,712.
Amount in 1986
Value in 2000
$1.00
$1.57
$5.00
$7.86
$10.00
$15.71
$20.00
$31.42
$50.00
$78.56
$100
$157
$500
$786
$1,000
$1,571
$5,000
$7,856
$10,000
$15,712
$100,000
$157,117
$1,000,000
$1,571,168
Inflation by spending category, 1986–2000
Between 1986 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 113.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 22.4%, against 57.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1986
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1986 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.28%
$157
Medical care
5.58%
$214
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.40%
$160
Food
3.13%
$154
Housing
3.08%
$153
Transportation
2.93%
$150
Energy
2.50%
$141
Apparel
1.45%
$122
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1986: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1986 to 2000
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.50% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1986–2000 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1986, at end
1986–1990
4.50%
19.3%
$119
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$157
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1986
$100 from 1986 had already become $132 by
1993, on its way to $157 in 2000; 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 1.6% in 1998.
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1986 had the buying
power of $157; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1986 to 2000: $100 is worth $157 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1986 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2000/