$100 in 1987 is worth $134 in 1995,
because prices increased 34.2% over that period, an average of
3.74% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$134
in 1995
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
34.2%
Average inflation rate
3.74% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$134
Price difference ($100 base)
$34.15
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 1995
152.4
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
$100 in 1987 → 1995
$134
$100 in 1995 → 1987
$74.54
What happened to prices between 1987 and 1995
Between 1987 and 1995, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 152.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 34.2%, which works out to an average of
3.74% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.75 buys in 1995: the 1987 dollar
lost 25.5% of its purchasing power over
these 8 years.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
Every 1987 amount converts to 1995 at the same ratio, 1.34: $1,000 becomes
$1,342, and $10,000 becomes $13,415.
Amount in 1987
Value in 1995
$1.00
$1.34
$5.00
$6.71
$10.00
$13.42
$20.00
$26.83
$50.00
$67.08
$100
$134
$500
$671
$1,000
$1,342
$5,000
$6,708
$10,000
$13,415
$100,000
$134,155
$1,000,000
$1,341,549
Inflation by spending category, 1987–1995
Between 1987 and 1995, medical care rose the most, up 69.5%, while energy rose the least, up 18.7%, against 34.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 1995, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.74%
$134
Medical care
6.82%
$169
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.95%
$136
Transportation
3.53%
$132
Food
3.41%
$131
Housing
3.34%
$130
Apparel
2.24%
$119
Energy
2.17%
$119
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 1995
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (3.12% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–1995 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1987, at end
1987–1990
4.78%
15.1%
$115
1990–1995
3.12%
16.6%
$134
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $120 by
1991, on its way to $134 in 1995; 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 2.6% in 1994.
In 1995, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $134; the year's average CPI of 152.4 is the level
behind every 1995 figure on this page.
In 1995, gas averaged $1.15 a gallon, a new home cost roughly $133,900, and the median household
earned about $34,100. Inflation ran at 2.8% for the year, little changed from 1994, as the
Federal Reserve shifted from raising rates to cutting them. Having lifted its policy rate six
times the year before, the Fed judged by July that the economy had cooled enough on its own, and
trimmed rates instead, an outcome economists would later point to as a rare soft landing. The
year opened with a currency crisis: Mexico’s peso lost roughly half its value against the dollar
in a matter of weeks, and the U.S. Treasury and the IMF assembled a $50 billion rescue package,
controversial in Congress, to stabilize it and keep the crisis from spreading to other emerging
markets. Closer to home, a budget standoff between President Clinton and the Republican Congress
shut down federal agencies twice, first for five days in November and then for 21 days spanning
December into January 1996, the longest shutdown up to that point. The Postal Service raised the
cost of a first-class stamp to 32 cents in January. Low, steady inflation was about the only calm
part of 1995’s economic story.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 1995: $100 is worth $134 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-1995/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 1995. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-1995/