$100 in 1988 is worth $175 in 2007,
because prices increased 75.3% over that period, an average of
3.00% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$175
in 2007
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
75.3%
Average inflation rate
3.00% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$175
Price difference ($100 base)
$75.27
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 2007
207.342
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 2007
2.85%
$100 in 1988 → 2007
$175
$100 in 2007 → 1988
$57.06
What happened to prices between 1988 and 2007
Between 1988 and 2007, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 207.342.
Cumulatively, prices increased 75.3%, which works out to an average of
3.00% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.57 buys in 2007: the 1988 dollar
lost 42.9% of its purchasing power over
these 19 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 2007 at the same ratio, 1.75: $1,000 becomes
$1,753, and $10,000 becomes $17,527.
Amount in 1988
Value in 2007
$1.00
$1.75
$5.00
$8.76
$10.00
$17.53
$20.00
$35.05
$50.00
$87.63
$100
$175
$500
$876
$1,000
$1,753
$5,000
$8,763
$10,000
$17,527
$100,000
$175,268
$1,000,000
$1,752,680
Inflation by spending category, 1988–2007
Between 1988 and 2007, medical care rose the most, up 153.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 3.1%, against 75.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 2007, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.00%
$175
Medical care
5.01%
$253
Energy
4.54%
$233
Housing
3.05%
$177
Food
2.89%
$172
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.86%
$171
Transportation
2.83%
$170
Apparel
0.16%
$103
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 2007
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–2007 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
2000–2007
2.69%
20.4%
$175
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $136 by
1997, on its way to $175 in 2007; 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 2007, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $175; the year's average CPI of 207.342 is the level
behind every 2007 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.8% in 2007, with gasoline averaging $2.80 a gallon, but the year is better
known for what began underneath prices. In August, French bank BNP Paribas froze funds tied to
U.S. subprime mortgages, and credit between banks tightened. The Federal Reserve responded with
a half-point cut on September 18, its first in four years, and took the policy rate from 5.25% to
4.25% by December. The economy peaked that month, by the National Bureau of Economic Research’s
dating, and the Great Recession followed. The median household earned about $50,200, and the
median new home cost $247,900. Congress ended the decade-long freeze on the federal minimum wage
in May, with the first of three steps to $5.85 in July. A first-class stamp cost 41 cents.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 2007: $100 is worth $175 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2007/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 2007. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2007/