$100 in 1987 is worth $258 in 2022,
because prices increased 157.6% over that period, an average of
2.74% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$258
in 2022
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
157.6%
Average inflation rate
2.74% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$258
Price difference ($100 base)
$158
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 2022
292.655
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 2022
8.00%
$100 in 1987 → 2022
$258
$100 in 2022 → 1987
$38.82
What happened to prices between 1987 and 2022
Between 1987 and 2022, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 292.655.
Cumulatively, prices increased 157.6%, which works out to an average of
2.74% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.39 buys in 2022: the 1987 dollar
lost 61.2% of its purchasing power over
these 35 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 2022 at the same ratio, 2.58: $1,000 becomes
$2,576, and $10,000 becomes $25,762.
Amount in 1987
Value in 2022
$1.00
$2.58
$5.00
$12.88
$10.00
$25.76
$20.00
$51.52
$50.00
$129
$100
$258
$500
$1,288
$1,000
$2,576
$5,000
$12,881
$10,000
$25,762
$100,000
$257,619
$1,000,000
$2,576,188
Inflation by spending category, 1987–2022
Between 1987 and 2022, medical care rose the most, up 320.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 14.9%, against 157.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 2022, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.74%
$258
Medical care
4.19%
$420
Energy
3.53%
$337
Food
2.87%
$269
Housing
2.81%
$263
Transportation
2.68%
$253
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.64%
$249
Apparel
0.40%
$115
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 2022
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 6.34% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–2022 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$228
2020–2022
6.34%
13.1%
$258
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $172 by
2005, on its way to $258 in 2022; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 8.0% in 2022, 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: 2022
In 2022, prices rose 8.0% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $258; the year's average CPI of 292.655 is the level
behind every 2022 figure on this page.
2022 was the year inflation returned. Consumer prices rose 8.0% on average,
the worst since 1981, driven by pandemic-era supply chains, stimulus-fueled
demand, and an energy shock from the war in Ukraine. Gas briefly topped $5 a
gallon nationally for the first time ever, and “inflation” became the
top-ranked economic concern in nearly every poll of American households.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 2022: $100 is worth $258 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2022/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 2022. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2022/