$100 in 1986 is worth $162 in 2001,
because prices increased 61.6% over that period, an average of
3.25% a year.
$100 in 1986 has
the same buying power as
$162
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
61.6%
Average inflation rate
3.25% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$162
Price difference ($100 base)
$61.59
CPI in 1986
109.6
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1986
1.86%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1986 → 2001
$162
$100 in 2001 → 1986
$61.89
What happened to prices between 1986 and 2001
Between 1986 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 109.6 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 61.6%, which works out to an average of
3.25% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1986 bought what
$0.62 buys in 2001: the 1986 dollar
lost 38.1% of its purchasing power over
these 15 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 2001 at the same ratio, 1.62: $1,000 becomes
$1,616, and $10,000 becomes $16,159.
Amount in 1986
Value in 2001
$1.00
$1.62
$5.00
$8.08
$10.00
$16.16
$20.00
$32.32
$50.00
$80.79
$100
$162
$500
$808
$1,000
$1,616
$5,000
$8,079
$10,000
$16,159
$100,000
$161,588
$1,000,000
$1,615,876
Inflation by spending category, 1986–2001
Between 1986 and 2001, medical care rose the most, up 123.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 20.2%, against 61.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1986
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1986 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.25%
$162
Medical care
5.51%
$224
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.35%
$164
Housing
3.14%
$159
Food
3.13%
$159
Transportation
2.78%
$151
Energy
2.58%
$147
Apparel
1.23%
$120
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1986: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1986 to 2001
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 1986–2001 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
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$162
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1986
$100 from 1986 had already become $132 by
1993, on its way to $162 in 2001; 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 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1986 had the buying
power of $162; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1986 to 2001: $100 is worth $162 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1986 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2001/