$100 in 1987 is worth $192 in 2010,
because prices increased 92.0% over that period, an average of
2.88% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$192
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
92.0%
Average inflation rate
2.88% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$192
Price difference ($100 base)
$91.95
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 1987 → 2010
$192
$100 in 2010 → 1987
$52.10
What happened to prices between 1987 and 2010
Between 1987 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 92.0%, which works out to an average of
2.88% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.52 buys in 2010: the 1987 dollar
lost 47.9% of its purchasing power over
these 23 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 2010 at the same ratio, 1.92: $1,000 becomes
$1,920, and $10,000 becomes $19,195.
Amount in 1987
Value in 2010
$1.00
$1.92
$5.00
$9.60
$10.00
$19.20
$20.00
$38.39
$50.00
$95.98
$100
$192
$500
$960
$1,000
$1,920
$5,000
$9,598
$10,000
$19,195
$100,000
$191,951
$1,000,000
$1,919,507
Inflation by spending category, 1987–2010
Between 1987 and 2010, medical care rose the most, up 198.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 8.0%, against 92.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.88%
$192
Medical care
4.87%
$299
Energy
3.85%
$239
Food
2.91%
$194
Housing
2.82%
$189
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.76%
$187
Transportation
2.67%
$183
Apparel
0.34%
$108
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 2010
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.39% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–2010 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1987, at end
1987–1990
4.78%
15.1%
$115
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$152
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$192
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $143 by
1998, on its way to $192 in 2010; 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 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $192; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 2010: $100 is worth $192 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2010/