$100 in 1986 is worth $219 in 2016,
because prices increased 119.0% over that period, an average of
2.65% a year.
$100 in 1986 has
the same buying power as
$219
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
119.0%
Average inflation rate
2.65% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$219
Price difference ($100 base)
$119
CPI in 1986
109.6
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1986
1.86%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1986 → 2016
$219
$100 in 2016 → 1986
$45.67
What happened to prices between 1986 and 2016
Between 1986 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 109.6 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 119.0%, which works out to an average of
2.65% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1986 bought what
$0.46 buys in 2016: the 1986 dollar
lost 54.3% of its purchasing power over
these 30 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 2016 at the same ratio, 2.19: $1,000 becomes
$2,190, and $10,000 becomes $21,898.
Amount in 1986
Value in 2016
$1.00
$2.19
$5.00
$10.95
$10.00
$21.90
$20.00
$43.80
$50.00
$109
$100
$219
$500
$1,095
$1,000
$2,190
$5,000
$10,949
$10,000
$21,898
$100,000
$218,984
$1,000,000
$2,189,845
Inflation by spending category, 1986–2016
Between 1986 and 2016, medical care rose the most, up 280.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 19.0%, against 119.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1986
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1986 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.65%
$219
Medical care
4.55%
$380
Food
2.78%
$227
Housing
2.66%
$220
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.63%
$218
Energy
2.58%
$215
Transportation
2.17%
$191
Apparel
0.58%
$119
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1986: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1986 to 2016
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.50% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1986–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$219
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1986
$100 from 1986 had already become $162 by
2001, on its way to $219 in 2016; 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 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1986 had the buying
power of $219; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1986 to 2016: $100 is worth $219 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1986 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2016/