$100 in 1987 is worth $209 in 2015,
because prices increased 108.6% over that period, an average of
2.66% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$209
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
108.6%
Average inflation rate
2.66% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$209
Price difference ($100 base)
$109
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 1987 → 2015
$209
$100 in 2015 → 1987
$47.93
What happened to prices between 1987 and 2015
Between 1987 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 108.6%, which works out to an average of
2.66% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.48 buys in 2015: the 1987 dollar
lost 52.1% of its purchasing power over
these 28 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 2015 at the same ratio, 2.09: $1,000 becomes
$2,086, and $10,000 becomes $20,864.
Amount in 1987
Value in 2015
$1.00
$2.09
$5.00
$10.43
$10.00
$20.86
$20.00
$41.73
$50.00
$104
$100
$209
$500
$1,043
$1,000
$2,086
$5,000
$10,432
$10,000
$20,864
$100,000
$208,642
$1,000,000
$2,086,417
Inflation by spending category, 1987–2015
Between 1987 and 2015, medical care rose the most, up 243.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 13.8%, against 108.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.66%
$209
Medical care
4.50%
$343
Energy
3.00%
$229
Food
2.82%
$218
Housing
2.66%
$208
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.60%
$205
Transportation
2.30%
$189
Apparel
0.46%
$114
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 2015
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.68% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–2015 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
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$209
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $156 by
2001, on its way to $209 in 2015; 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 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $209; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 2015: $100 is worth $209 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2015/