$100 in 1986 is worth $164 in 2002,
because prices increased 64.1% over that period, an average of
3.15% a year.
$100 in 1986 has
the same buying power as
$164
in 2002
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
64.1%
Average inflation rate
3.15% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$164
Price difference ($100 base)
$64.14
CPI in 1986
109.6
CPI in 2002
179.9
Inflation in 1986
1.86%
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
$100 in 1986 → 2002
$164
$100 in 2002 → 1986
$60.92
What happened to prices between 1986 and 2002
Between 1986 and 2002, the Consumer Price Index went from 109.6 to 179.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 64.1%, which works out to an average of
3.15% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1986 bought what
$0.61 buys in 2002: the 1986 dollar
lost 39.1% of its purchasing power over
these 16 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 2002 at the same ratio, 1.64: $1,000 becomes
$1,641, and $10,000 becomes $16,414.
Amount in 1986
Value in 2002
$1.00
$1.64
$5.00
$8.21
$10.00
$16.41
$20.00
$32.83
$50.00
$82.07
$100
$164
$500
$821
$1,000
$1,641
$5,000
$8,207
$10,000
$16,414
$100,000
$164,142
$1,000,000
$1,641,423
Inflation by spending category, 1986–2002
Between 1986 and 2002, medical care rose the most, up 134.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 17.1%, against 64.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1986
spending costs in 2002, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1986 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.15%
$164
Medical care
5.46%
$234
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.29%
$168
Housing
3.08%
$163
Food
3.05%
$162
Transportation
2.54%
$149
Energy
2.03%
$138
Apparel
0.99%
$117
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1986: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1986 to 2002
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.50% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.21% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1986–2002 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
2000–2002
2.21%
4.5%
$164
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1986
$100 from 1986 had already become $135 by
1994, on its way to $164 in 2002; 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 2002, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1986 had the buying
power of $164; the year's average CPI of 179.9 is the level
behind every 2002 figure on this page.
The CPI rose 1.6% in 2002, the lowest annual rate of the decade so far, with gasoline down to an
average of $1.36 a gallon and slack in the labor market keeping wage pressure low. The median
household earned about $42,400, and a new home cost roughly $187,600, an increase of about 7%
from the year before as low mortgage rates began to lift housing. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate to 1.25% in November. Stocks were moving the other way: after the Enron and WorldCom
scandals, the S&P 500 hit its bear-market low on October 9, about 49% below its March 2000
peak, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July to tighten corporate accounting rules.
On January 1, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 European countries. A
first-class stamp rose to 37 cents in June, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1986 to 2002: $100 is worth $164 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2002/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1986 to 2002. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2002/