$100 in 1986 is worth $216 in 2015,
because prices increased 116.3% over that period, an average of
2.70% a year.
$100 in 1986 has
the same buying power as
$216
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
116.3%
Average inflation rate
2.70% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$216
Price difference ($100 base)
$116
CPI in 1986
109.6
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 1986
1.86%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 1986 → 2015
$216
$100 in 2015 → 1986
$46.24
What happened to prices between 1986 and 2015
Between 1986 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 109.6 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 116.3%, which works out to an average of
2.70% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1986 bought what
$0.46 buys in 2015: the 1986 dollar
lost 53.8% of its purchasing power over
these 29 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 2015 at the same ratio, 2.16: $1,000 becomes
$2,163, and $10,000 becomes $21,626.
Amount in 1986
Value in 2015
$1.00
$2.16
$5.00
$10.81
$10.00
$21.63
$20.00
$43.25
$50.00
$108
$100
$216
$500
$1,081
$1,000
$2,163
$5,000
$10,813
$10,000
$21,626
$100,000
$216,256
$1,000,000
$2,162,564
Inflation by spending category, 1986–2015
Between 1986 and 2015, medical care rose the most, up 266.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 18.9%, against 116.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1986
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1986 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.70%
$216
Medical care
4.58%
$366
Energy
2.91%
$230
Food
2.86%
$227
Housing
2.67%
$215
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.65%
$213
Transportation
2.32%
$195
Apparel
0.60%
$119
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1986: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1986 to 2015
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.50% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.68% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1986–2015 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
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$216
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1986
$100 from 1986 had already become $157 by
2000, on its way to $216 in 2015; 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 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 1986 had the buying
power of $216; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 1986 to 2015: $100 is worth $216 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1986 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2015/