$100 in 1986 is worth $199 in 2010,
because prices increased 99.0% over that period, an average of
2.91% a year.
$100 in 1986 has
the same buying power as
$199
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
99.0%
Average inflation rate
2.91% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$199
Price difference ($100 base)
$98.96
CPI in 1986
109.6
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 1986
1.86%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 1986 → 2010
$199
$100 in 2010 → 1986
$50.26
What happened to prices between 1986 and 2010
Between 1986 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 109.6 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 99.0%, which works out to an average of
2.91% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1986 bought what
$0.50 buys in 2010: the 1986 dollar
lost 49.7% of its purchasing power over
these 24 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 2010 at the same ratio, 1.99: $1,000 becomes
$1,990, and $10,000 becomes $19,896.
Amount in 1986
Value in 2010
$1.00
$1.99
$5.00
$9.95
$10.00
$19.90
$20.00
$39.79
$50.00
$99.48
$100
$199
$500
$995
$1,000
$1,990
$5,000
$9,948
$10,000
$19,896
$100,000
$198,956
$1,000,000
$1,989,562
Inflation by spending category, 1986–2010
Between 1986 and 2010, medical care rose the most, up 218.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 12.8%, against 99.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1986
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1986 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.91%
$199
Medical care
4.94%
$318
Energy
3.71%
$240
Food
2.96%
$201
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.82%
$195
Housing
2.82%
$195
Transportation
2.69%
$189
Apparel
0.50%
$113
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1986: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1986 to 2010
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.50% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.39% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1986–2010 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$199
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1986
$100 from 1986 had already become $149 by
1998, on its way to $199 in 2010; 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 prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1986 had the buying
power of $199; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 1986 to 2010: $100 is worth $199 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1986 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2010/