$100 in 1988 is worth $170 in 2006,
because prices increased 70.4% over that period, an average of
3.01% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$170
in 2006
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
70.4%
Average inflation rate
3.01% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$170
Price difference ($100 base)
$70.41
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 2006
201.6
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 2006
3.23%
$100 in 1988 → 2006
$170
$100 in 2006 → 1988
$58.68
What happened to prices between 1988 and 2006
Between 1988 and 2006, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 201.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 70.4%, which works out to an average of
3.01% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.59 buys in 2006: the 1988 dollar
lost 41.3% of its purchasing power over
these 18 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 2006 at the same ratio, 1.70: $1,000 becomes
$1,704, and $10,000 becomes $17,041.
Amount in 1988
Value in 2006
$1.00
$1.70
$5.00
$8.52
$10.00
$17.04
$20.00
$34.08
$50.00
$85.21
$100
$170
$500
$852
$1,000
$1,704
$5,000
$8,521
$10,000
$17,041
$100,000
$170,414
$1,000,000
$1,704,142
Inflation by spending category, 1988–2006
Between 1988 and 2006, medical care rose the most, up 142.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 3.6%, against 70.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 2006, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.01%
$170
Medical care
5.05%
$243
Energy
4.49%
$220
Housing
3.04%
$171
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.89%
$167
Transportation
2.87%
$166
Food
2.83%
$165
Apparel
0.19%
$104
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 2006
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.66% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–2006 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1988, at end
1988–1990
5.11%
10.5%
$110
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$146
2000–2006
2.66%
17.1%
$170
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $136 by
1997, on its way to $170 in 2006; 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 1.6% in 1998.
In 2006, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $170; the year's average CPI of 201.6 is the level
behind every 2006 figure on this page.
Inflation was 3.2% in 2006 and gasoline averaged $2.59 a gallon, up 29 cents from 2005. The
median household earned about $48,200 and the median new home cost $246,500, a gain of about
2% after a 13% jump in 2004 and 9% in 2005. National home prices, by the S&P/Case-Shiller
index, peaked in mid-2006. Ben Bernanke replaced Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chair on
February 1, and on June 29 the Fed raised its policy rate to 5.25%, the last of 17 straight
quarter-point increases. It held there for over a year. A first-class stamp rose to 39 cents in
January, and the federal minimum wage was $5.15 for the ninth full year in a row.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 2006: $100 is worth $170 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2006/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 2006. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2006/