$100 in 1987 is worth $221 in 2018,
because prices increased 121.0% over that period, an average of
2.59% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$221
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
121.0%
Average inflation rate
2.59% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$221
Price difference ($100 base)
$121
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 1987 → 2018
$221
$100 in 2018 → 1987
$45.24
What happened to prices between 1987 and 2018
Between 1987 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 121.0%, which works out to an average of
2.59% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.45 buys in 2018: the 1987 dollar
lost 54.8% of its purchasing power over
these 31 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 2018 at the same ratio, 2.21: $1,000 becomes
$2,210, and $10,000 becomes $22,104.
Amount in 1987
Value in 2018
$1.00
$2.21
$5.00
$11.05
$10.00
$22.10
$20.00
$44.21
$50.00
$111
$100
$221
$500
$1,105
$1,000
$2,210
$5,000
$11,052
$10,000
$22,104
$100,000
$221,045
$1,000,000
$2,210,449
Inflation by spending category, 1987–2018
Between 1987 and 2018, medical care rose the most, up 272.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 13.6%, against 121.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.59%
$221
Medical care
4.33%
$373
Energy
2.98%
$248
Housing
2.67%
$226
Food
2.63%
$223
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.54%
$218
Transportation
2.26%
$200
Apparel
0.41%
$114
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 2018
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–2018 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
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$221
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $162 by
2003, on its way to $221 in 2018; 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.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2018
In 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $221; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 2018: $100 is worth $221 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2018/