$100 in 1987 is worth $141 in 1997,
because prices increased 41.3% over that period, an average of
3.52% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$141
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
41.3%
Average inflation rate
3.52% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$141
Price difference ($100 base)
$41.29
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1987 → 1997
$141
$100 in 1997 → 1987
$70.78
What happened to prices between 1987 and 1997
Between 1987 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 41.3%, which works out to an average of
3.52% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.71 buys in 1997: the 1987 dollar
lost 29.2% of its purchasing power over
these 10 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 1997 at the same ratio, 1.41: $1,000 becomes
$1,413, and $10,000 becomes $14,129.
Amount in 1987
Value in 1997
$1.00
$1.41
$5.00
$7.06
$10.00
$14.13
$20.00
$28.26
$50.00
$70.64
$100
$141
$500
$706
$1,000
$1,413
$5,000
$7,064
$10,000
$14,129
$100,000
$141,285
$1,000,000
$1,412,852
Inflation by spending category, 1987–1997
Between 1987 and 1997, medical care rose the most, up 80.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 20.2%, against 41.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.52%
$141
Medical care
6.07%
$180
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.67%
$143
Food
3.32%
$139
Housing
3.22%
$137
Transportation
3.19%
$137
Energy
2.33%
$126
Apparel
1.85%
$120
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 1997
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.98% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–1997 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1987, at end
1987–1990
4.78%
15.1%
$115
1990–1997
2.98%
22.8%
$141
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $124 by
1992, on its way to $141 in 1997; 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 2.3% in 1997.
In 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $141; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 1997: $100 is worth $141 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-1997/