$100 in 1988 is worth $216 in 2019,
because prices increased 116.1% over that period, an average of
2.52% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$216
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
116.1%
Average inflation rate
2.52% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$216
Price difference ($100 base)
$116
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 1988 → 2019
$216
$100 in 2019 → 1988
$46.27
What happened to prices between 1988 and 2019
Between 1988 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 116.1%, which works out to an average of
2.52% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.46 buys in 2019: the 1988 dollar
lost 53.7% of its purchasing power over
these 31 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 2019 at the same ratio, 2.16: $1,000 becomes
$2,161, and $10,000 becomes $21,611.
Amount in 1988
Value in 2019
$1.00
$2.16
$5.00
$10.81
$10.00
$21.61
$20.00
$43.22
$50.00
$108
$100
$216
$500
$1,081
$1,000
$2,161
$5,000
$10,805
$10,000
$21,611
$100,000
$216,109
$1,000,000
$2,161,090
Inflation by spending category, 1988–2019
Between 1988 and 2019, medical care rose the most, up 259.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 7.5%, against 116.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.52%
$216
Medical care
4.21%
$360
Energy
2.88%
$241
Housing
2.64%
$224
Food
2.55%
$219
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.47%
$213
Transportation
2.15%
$193
Apparel
0.23%
$107
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 2019
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 1988–2019 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
2010–2019
1.78%
17.2%
$216
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $160 by
2004, on its way to $216 in 2019; 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.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2019
In 2019, prices rose 1.8% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $216; the year's average CPI of 255.657 is the level
behind every 2019 figure on this page.
2019 was the last ordinary year before COVID-19. Consumer prices rose 1.8%,
slightly under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with gasoline averaging
$2.60 a gallon. Median household income jumped to $68,703, the highest on
record up to that point, and the median new home sold for about $328,000. A
first-class stamp rose to 55 cents.
The Fed reversed course. After four increases in 2018, it cut rates three
times, to 1.50–1.75%, citing slower global growth, trade tensions, and low
inflation. In July the expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in
U.S. records, and in August the yield curve briefly inverted, a signal
investors read as a recession warning.
For workers at the bottom of the pay scale, 2019 marked a milestone of a
different kind. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and reached its tenth
year without an increase, the longest gap since the wage was first set. Because
prices had climbed about 19% since it was last raised in 2009, its buying power
was lower than at any point in that span.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 2019: $100 is worth $216 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2019/