$100 in 1988 is worth $136 in 1997,
because prices increased 35.7% over that period, an average of
3.45% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$136
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
35.7%
Average inflation rate
3.45% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$136
Price difference ($100 base)
$35.67
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1988 → 1997
$136
$100 in 1997 → 1988
$73.71
What happened to prices between 1988 and 1997
Between 1988 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 35.7%, which works out to an average of
3.45% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.74 buys in 1997: the 1988 dollar
lost 26.3% of its purchasing power over
these 9 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 1997 at the same ratio, 1.36: $1,000 becomes
$1,357, and $10,000 becomes $13,567.
Amount in 1988
Value in 1997
$1.00
$1.36
$5.00
$6.78
$10.00
$13.57
$20.00
$27.13
$50.00
$67.84
$100
$136
$500
$678
$1,000
$1,357
$5,000
$6,784
$10,000
$13,567
$100,000
$135,672
$1,000,000
$1,356,720
Inflation by spending category, 1988–1997
Between 1988 and 1997, medical care rose the most, up 69.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 15.2%, against 35.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.45%
$136
Medical care
6.02%
$169
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.59%
$137
Food
3.23%
$133
Transportation
3.20%
$133
Housing
3.16%
$132
Energy
2.50%
$125
Apparel
1.58%
$115
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 1997
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.98% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–1997 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1988, at end
1988–1990
5.11%
10.5%
$110
1990–1997
2.98%
22.8%
$136
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $119 by
1992, on its way to $136 in 1997; 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 2.3% in 1997.
In 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $136; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 1997: $100 is worth $136 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1997/