$100 in 1987 is worth $216 in 2017,
because prices increased 115.8% over that period, an average of
2.60% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$216
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
115.8%
Average inflation rate
2.60% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$216
Price difference ($100 base)
$116
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 1987 → 2017
$216
$100 in 2017 → 1987
$46.34
What happened to prices between 1987 and 2017
Between 1987 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 115.8%, which works out to an average of
2.60% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.46 buys in 2017: the 1987 dollar
lost 53.7% of its purchasing power over
these 30 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 2017 at the same ratio, 2.16: $1,000 becomes
$2,158, and $10,000 becomes $21,577.
Amount in 1987
Value in 2017
$1.00
$2.16
$5.00
$10.79
$10.00
$21.58
$20.00
$43.15
$50.00
$108
$100
$216
$500
$1,079
$1,000
$2,158
$5,000
$10,789
$10,000
$21,577
$100,000
$215,775
$1,000,000
$2,157,746
Inflation by spending category, 1987–2017
Between 1987 and 2017, medical care rose the most, up 265.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 13.6%, against 115.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.60%
$216
Medical care
4.41%
$365
Energy
2.83%
$231
Food
2.67%
$220
Housing
2.66%
$220
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.56%
$213
Transportation
2.18%
$191
Apparel
0.43%
$114
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 2017
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–2017 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
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$216
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $158 by
2002, on its way to $216 in 2017; 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 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $216; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 2017: $100 is worth $216 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2017/