$100 in 1988 is worth $258 in 2023,
because prices increased 157.6% over that period, an average of
2.74% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$258
in 2023
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
157.6%
Average inflation rate
2.74% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$258
Price difference ($100 base)
$158
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 2023
304.702
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 2023
4.12%
$100 in 1988 → 2023
$258
$100 in 2023 → 1988
$38.82
What happened to prices between 1988 and 2023
Between 1988 and 2023, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 304.702.
Cumulatively, prices increased 157.6%, which works out to an average of
2.74% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.39 buys in 2023: the 1988 dollar
lost 61.2% of its purchasing power over
these 35 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 2023 at the same ratio, 2.58: $1,000 becomes
$2,576, and $10,000 becomes $25,757.
Amount in 1988
Value in 2023
$1.00
$2.58
$5.00
$12.88
$10.00
$25.76
$20.00
$51.51
$50.00
$129
$100
$258
$500
$1,288
$1,000
$2,576
$5,000
$12,878
$10,000
$25,757
$100,000
$257,567
$1,000,000
$2,575,672
Inflation by spending category, 1988–2023
Between 1988 and 2023, medical care rose the most, up 296.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 13.2%, against 157.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 2023, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.74%
$258
Medical care
4.01%
$396
Energy
3.35%
$317
Food
2.91%
$273
Housing
2.88%
$270
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.65%
$250
Transportation
2.60%
$246
Apparel
0.35%
$113
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 2023
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 5.59% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–2023 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$219
2020–2023
5.59%
17.7%
$258
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $170 by
2006, on its way to $258 in 2023; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 8.0% in 2022, 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: 2023
In 2023, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $258; the year's average CPI of 304.702 is the level
behind every 2023 figure on this page.
2023 was the year inflation came down without a recession. Consumer prices
rose 4.1% on average, roughly half of 2022’s 8.0%, and the December-to-December
rate fell to 3.4%. Gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon, well below the 2022
average, and supply-chain pressure on goods eased. Shelter, restaurant meals,
and other services stayed expensive, so the CPI kept rising at a rate well
above the pre-pandemic pace.
The Federal Reserve completed its rate-hiking campaign in July, taking the
policy rate to 5.25–5.50%, the highest level in 22 years. The effects showed
up in banking: Silicon Valley Bank failed in March after rate increases eroded
the value of its bond portfolio, the second-largest bank failure in U.S.
history at the time. Despite that, unemployment stayed under 4% all year.
Median household income was $80,610 according to the Census Bureau. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp rose to 66 cents
in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 2023: $100 is worth $258 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2023/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 2023. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2023/