$100 in 1988 is worth $212 in 2018,
because prices increased 112.3% over that period, an average of
2.54% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$212
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
112.3%
Average inflation rate
2.54% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$212
Price difference ($100 base)
$112
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 1988 → 2018
$212
$100 in 2018 → 1988
$47.11
What happened to prices between 1988 and 2018
Between 1988 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 112.3%, which works out to an average of
2.54% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.47 buys in 2018: the 1988 dollar
lost 52.9% of its purchasing power over
these 30 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 2018 at the same ratio, 2.12: $1,000 becomes
$2,123, and $10,000 becomes $21,226.
Amount in 1988
Value in 2018
$1.00
$2.12
$5.00
$10.61
$10.00
$21.23
$20.00
$42.45
$50.00
$106
$100
$212
$500
$1,061
$1,000
$2,123
$5,000
$10,613
$10,000
$21,226
$100,000
$212,263
$1,000,000
$2,122,629
Inflation by spending category, 1988–2018
Between 1988 and 2018, medical care rose the most, up 249.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 8.9%, against 112.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.54%
$212
Medical care
4.26%
$350
Energy
3.05%
$246
Housing
2.63%
$218
Food
2.58%
$215
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.48%
$209
Transportation
2.23%
$194
Apparel
0.28%
$109
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 2018
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–2018 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
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$212
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $156 by
2003, on its way to $212 in 2018; 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 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $212; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 2018: $100 is worth $212 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2018/