$100 in 1986 is worth $229 in 2018,
because prices increased 129.1% over that period, an average of
2.62% a year.
$100 in 1986 has
the same buying power as
$229
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
129.1%
Average inflation rate
2.62% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$229
Price difference ($100 base)
$129
CPI in 1986
109.6
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 1986
1.86%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 1986 → 2018
$229
$100 in 2018 → 1986
$43.65
What happened to prices between 1986 and 2018
Between 1986 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 109.6 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 129.1%, which works out to an average of
2.62% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1986 bought what
$0.44 buys in 2018: the 1986 dollar
lost 56.4% of its purchasing power over
these 32 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 2018 at the same ratio, 2.29: $1,000 becomes
$2,291, and $10,000 becomes $22,911.
Amount in 1986
Value in 2018
$1.00
$2.29
$5.00
$11.46
$10.00
$22.91
$20.00
$45.82
$50.00
$115
$100
$229
$500
$1,146
$1,000
$2,291
$5,000
$11,456
$10,000
$22,911
$100,000
$229,112
$1,000,000
$2,291,122
Inflation by spending category, 1986–2018
Between 1986 and 2018, medical care rose the most, up 297.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 18.7%, against 129.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1986
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1986 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.62%
$229
Medical care
4.41%
$397
Energy
2.90%
$249
Housing
2.68%
$233
Food
2.67%
$233
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.59%
$227
Transportation
2.28%
$206
Apparel
0.54%
$119
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1986: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1986 to 2018
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.50% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1986–2018 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
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$229
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1986
$100 from 1986 had already become $164 by
2002, on its way to $229 in 2018; 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.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2018
In 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 1986 had the buying
power of $229; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1986 to 2018: $100 is worth $229 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1986 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2018/