$100 in 1987 is worth $138 in 1996,
because prices increased 38.1% over that period, an average of
3.65% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$138
in 1996
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
38.1%
Average inflation rate
3.65% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$138
Price difference ($100 base)
$38.12
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 1996
156.9
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
$100 in 1987 → 1996
$138
$100 in 1996 → 1987
$72.40
What happened to prices between 1987 and 1996
Between 1987 and 1996, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 156.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 38.1%, which works out to an average of
3.65% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.72 buys in 1996: the 1987 dollar
lost 27.6% of its purchasing power over
these 9 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 1996 at the same ratio, 1.38: $1,000 becomes
$1,381, and $10,000 becomes $13,812.
Amount in 1987
Value in 1996
$1.00
$1.38
$5.00
$6.91
$10.00
$13.81
$20.00
$27.62
$50.00
$69.06
$100
$138
$500
$691
$1,000
$1,381
$5,000
$6,906
$10,000
$13,812
$100,000
$138,116
$1,000,000
$1,381,162
Inflation by spending category, 1987–1996
Between 1987 and 1996, medical care rose the most, up 75.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 19.1%, against 38.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 1996, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.65%
$138
Medical care
6.44%
$175
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.82%
$140
Transportation
3.45%
$136
Food
3.40%
$135
Housing
3.29%
$134
Energy
2.44%
$124
Apparel
1.96%
$119
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 1996
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (3.09% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–1996 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1987, at end
1987–1990
4.78%
15.1%
$115
1990–1996
3.09%
20.0%
$138
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $120 by
1991, on its way to $138 in 1996; 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 1996, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $138; the year's average CPI of 156.9 is the level
behind every 1996 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $35,500 in 1996, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, up noticeably
from the mid-decade lull, and a new home cost roughly $140,000. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the
year, ticking back up from 1995 as energy prices firmed. Washington passed two of the decade’s
more consequential laws that year: in February, the Telecommunications Act rewrote the rules for
phone, cable, and broadcast media for the first time since 1934, opening local markets to
competition and easing ownership limits; in August, a welfare overhaul ended the federal
guarantee of cash assistance, replacing it with block grants to states and time limits on
benefits. In October, the federal minimum wage rose to $4.75 an hour, its first increase in five
years and the opening step of a two-part law that would take it to $5.15 the following
September. Two sweeping new laws and a minimum wage finally on the move again made 1996 a year
that changed more about how the economy was governed than about how fast prices moved.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 1996: $100 is worth $138 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-1996/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 1996. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-1996/