$100 in 1988 is worth $184 in 2010,
because prices increased 84.3% over that period, an average of
2.82% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$184
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
84.3%
Average inflation rate
2.82% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$184
Price difference ($100 base)
$84.32
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 1988 → 2010
$184
$100 in 2010 → 1988
$54.25
What happened to prices between 1988 and 2010
Between 1988 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 84.3%, which works out to an average of
2.82% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.54 buys in 2010: the 1988 dollar
lost 45.7% of its purchasing power over
these 22 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 2010 at the same ratio, 1.84: $1,000 becomes
$1,843, and $10,000 becomes $18,432.
Amount in 1988
Value in 2010
$1.00
$1.84
$5.00
$9.22
$10.00
$18.43
$20.00
$36.86
$50.00
$92.16
$100
$184
$500
$922
$1,000
$1,843
$5,000
$9,216
$10,000
$18,432
$100,000
$184,325
$1,000,000
$1,843,246
Inflation by spending category, 1988–2010
Between 1988 and 2010, medical care rose the most, up 180.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 3.6%, against 84.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.82%
$184
Medical care
4.80%
$280
Energy
4.00%
$237
Food
2.86%
$186
Housing
2.77%
$182
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.69%
$179
Transportation
2.65%
$178
Apparel
0.16%
$104
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 2010
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.39% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–2010 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$184
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $141 by
1999, on its way to $184 in 2010; 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 prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $184; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 2010: $100 is worth $184 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2010/