$100 in 1988 is worth $129 in 1995,
because prices increased 28.8% over that period, an average of
3.68% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$129
in 1995
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
28.8%
Average inflation rate
3.68% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$129
Price difference ($100 base)
$28.83
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 1995
152.4
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
$100 in 1988 → 1995
$129
$100 in 1995 → 1988
$77.62
What happened to prices between 1988 and 1995
Between 1988 and 1995, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 152.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 28.8%, which works out to an average of
3.68% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.78 buys in 1995: the 1988 dollar
lost 22.4% of its purchasing power over
these 7 years.
By 1988, the economic expansion that began in the ashes of the 1981-82
recession was in its sixth year, and the Federal Reserve was watching for
signs it had run too long. Inflation rose to 4.1%, up from 3.6% the year
before, while unemployment fell to its lowest level since 1974. Alan
Greenspan’s Fed responded by raising the federal funds rate through the
year, from about 6.5% to 8.5%, trying to cool demand before prices
accelerated the way they had in the 1970s. Households still felt the
difference between this expansion and the last one: gas held near 90 cents
a gallon, almost exactly its 1987 price, and median household income rose
to roughly $27,200. The one price that moved was postage, which rose from
22 to 25 cents in April, the fourth increase of the decade but a far
gentler pace than the string of increases in the late 1970s and early
1980s. In November, Vice President George H.W. Bush won the presidency on
the strength of the expansion, promising in his nomination speech to hold
the line on taxes. Both the boom and that pledge would run into trouble
within two years, as the Fed’s rate increases helped tip the economy toward
the 1990-91 recession.
Every 1988 amount converts to 1995 at the same ratio, 1.29: $1,000 becomes
$1,288, and $10,000 becomes $12,883.
Amount in 1988
Value in 1995
$1.00
$1.29
$5.00
$6.44
$10.00
$12.88
$20.00
$25.77
$50.00
$64.41
$100
$129
$500
$644
$1,000
$1,288
$5,000
$6,441
$10,000
$12,883
$100,000
$128,825
$1,000,000
$1,288,250
Inflation by spending category, 1988–1995
Between 1988 and 1995, medical care rose the most, up 59.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 14.4%, against 28.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 1995, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.68%
$129
Medical care
6.86%
$159
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.89%
$131
Transportation
3.59%
$128
Food
3.30%
$126
Housing
3.28%
$125
Energy
2.37%
$118
Apparel
1.94%
$114
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 1995
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (3.12% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–1995 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1988, at end
1988–1990
5.11%
10.5%
$110
1990–1995
3.12%
16.6%
$129
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $115 by
1991, on its way to $129 in 1995; 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 the smallest rise was 2.6% in 1994.
In 1995, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $129; the year's average CPI of 152.4 is the level
behind every 1995 figure on this page.
In 1995, gas averaged $1.15 a gallon, a new home cost roughly $133,900, and the median household
earned about $34,100. Inflation ran at 2.8% for the year, little changed from 1994, as the
Federal Reserve shifted from raising rates to cutting them. Having lifted its policy rate six
times the year before, the Fed judged by July that the economy had cooled enough on its own, and
trimmed rates instead, an outcome economists would later point to as a rare soft landing. The
year opened with a currency crisis: Mexico’s peso lost roughly half its value against the dollar
in a matter of weeks, and the U.S. Treasury and the IMF assembled a $50 billion rescue package,
controversial in Congress, to stabilize it and keep the crisis from spreading to other emerging
markets. Closer to home, a budget standoff between President Clinton and the Republican Congress
shut down federal agencies twice, first for five days in November and then for 21 days spanning
December into January 1996, the longest shutdown up to that point. The Postal Service raised the
cost of a first-class stamp to 32 cents in January. Low, steady inflation was about the only calm
part of 1995’s economic story.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 1995: $100 is worth $129 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1995/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 1995. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1995/