$100 in 1987 is worth $283 in 2025,
because prices increased 183.4% over that period, an average of
2.78% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$283
in 2025
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
183.4%
Average inflation rate
2.78% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$283
Price difference ($100 base)
$183
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 2025
321.943
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 2025
2.63%
$100 in 1987 → 2025
$283
$100 in 2025 → 1987
$35.29
What happened to prices between 1987 and 2025
Between 1987 and 2025, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 321.943.
Cumulatively, prices increased 183.4%, which works out to an average of
2.78% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.35 buys in 2025: the 1987 dollar
lost 64.7% of its purchasing power over
these 38 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 2025 at the same ratio, 2.83: $1,000 becomes
$2,834, and $10,000 becomes $28,340.
Amount in 1987
Value in 2025
$1.00
$2.83
$5.00
$14.17
$10.00
$28.34
$20.00
$56.68
$50.00
$142
$100
$283
$500
$1,417
$1,000
$2,834
$5,000
$14,170
$10,000
$28,340
$100,000
$283,401
$1,000,000
$2,834,005
Inflation by spending category, 1987–2025
Between 1987 and 2025, medical care rose the most, up 345.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 18.7%, against 183.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 2025, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.78%
$283
Medical care
4.01%
$446
Energy
3.07%
$315
Housing
2.97%
$304
Food
2.93%
$299
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.72%
$278
Transportation
2.53%
$258
Apparel
0.45%
$119
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 2025
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–2025 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
2020–2025
4.46%
24.4%
$283
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $172 by
2005, on its way to $283 in 2025; 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: 2025
In 2025, prices rose 2.6% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $283; the year's average CPI of 321.943 is the level
behind every 2025 figure on this page.
2025 was a year of trade policy and data disruptions rather than an
inflation surge. Consumer prices rose 2.6% on average, a step down from
2024’s 2.9% and well below the 8.0% of 2022. Tariffs announced in April
pushed up prices for some imported goods, including furniture, apparel, and
auto parts, but the effect on the overall index was smaller than many
forecasters feared at the start of the year, in part because retailers
absorbed some of the cost and demand for services stayed steady.
The Federal Reserve held its policy rate steady through the first half of the
year, then began cutting again in September, lowering it in three quarter-point
steps to 3.50–3.75% by December.
The federal government shutdown that began October 1 lasted 43 days, and the
Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish a CPI for October 2025 because the
survey data could not be collected. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 78 cents in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 2025: $100 is worth $283 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2025/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 2025. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-2025/