$100 in 1987 is worth $225 in 2019,
because prices increased 125.1% over that period, an average of
2.57% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$225
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
125.1%
Average inflation rate
2.57% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$225
Price difference ($100 base)
$125
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 1987 → 2019
$225
$100 in 2019 → 1987
$44.43
What happened to prices between 1987 and 2019
Between 1987 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 125.1%, which works out to an average of
2.57% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.44 buys in 2019: the 1987 dollar
lost 55.6% of its purchasing power over
these 32 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 2019 at the same ratio, 2.25: $1,000 becomes
$2,251, and $10,000 becomes $22,505.
Amount in 1987
Value in 2019
$1.00
$2.25
$5.00
$11.25
$10.00
$22.51
$20.00
$45.01
$50.00
$113
$100
$225
$500
$1,125
$1,000
$2,251
$5,000
$11,253
$10,000
$22,505
$100,000
$225,050
$1,000,000
$2,250,502
Inflation by spending category, 1987–2019
Between 1987 and 2019, medical care rose the most, up 283.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 12.2%, against 125.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.57%
$225
Medical care
4.29%
$383
Energy
2.81%
$243
Housing
2.68%
$233
Food
2.60%
$228
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.53%
$223
Transportation
2.18%
$199
Apparel
0.36%
$112
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 2019
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 1987–2019 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
2010–2019
1.78%
17.2%
$225
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $162 by
2003, on its way to $225 in 2019; 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: 2019
In 2019, prices rose 1.8% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $225; the year's average CPI of 255.657 is the level
behind every 2019 figure on this page.
2019 was the last ordinary year before COVID-19. Consumer prices rose 1.8%,
slightly under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with gasoline averaging
$2.60 a gallon. Median household income jumped to $68,703, the highest on
record up to that point, and the median new home sold for about $328,000. A
first-class stamp rose to 55 cents.
The Fed reversed course. After four increases in 2018, it cut rates three
times, to 1.50–1.75%, citing slower global growth, trade tensions, and low
inflation. In July the expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in
U.S. records, and in August the yield curve briefly inverted, a signal
investors read as a recession warning.
For workers at the bottom of the pay scale, 2019 marked a milestone of a
different kind. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and reached its tenth
year without an increase, the longest gap since the wage was first set. Because
prices had climbed about 19% since it was last raised in 2009, its buying power
was lower than at any point in that span.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 2019: $100 is worth $225 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2019/