$100 in 1988 is worth $272 in 2025,
because prices increased 172.1% over that period, an average of
2.74% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$272
in 2025
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
172.1%
Average inflation rate
2.74% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$272
Price difference ($100 base)
$172
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 2025
321.943
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 2025
2.63%
$100 in 1988 → 2025
$272
$100 in 2025 → 1988
$36.75
What happened to prices between 1988 and 2025
Between 1988 and 2025, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 321.943.
Cumulatively, prices increased 172.1%, which works out to an average of
2.74% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.37 buys in 2025: the 1988 dollar
lost 63.3% of its purchasing power over
these 37 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 2025 at the same ratio, 2.72: $1,000 becomes
$2,721, and $10,000 becomes $27,214.
Amount in 1988
Value in 2025
$1.00
$2.72
$5.00
$13.61
$10.00
$27.21
$20.00
$54.43
$50.00
$136
$100
$272
$500
$1,361
$1,000
$2,721
$5,000
$13,607
$10,000
$27,214
$100,000
$272,141
$1,000,000
$2,721,412
Inflation by spending category, 1988–2025
Between 1988 and 2025, medical care rose the most, up 318.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 13.8%, against 172.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 2025, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.74%
$272
Medical care
3.95%
$419
Energy
3.13%
$313
Housing
2.94%
$293
Food
2.89%
$287
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.68%
$266
Transportation
2.51%
$250
Apparel
0.35%
$114
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 2025
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–2025 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
2020–2025
4.46%
24.4%
$272
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $170 by
2006, on its way to $272 in 2025; 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: 2025
In 2025, prices rose 2.6% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $272; the year's average CPI of 321.943 is the level
behind every 2025 figure on this page.
2025 was a year of trade policy and data disruptions rather than an
inflation surge. Consumer prices rose 2.6% on average, a step down from
2024’s 2.9% and well below the 8.0% of 2022. Tariffs announced in April
pushed up prices for some imported goods, including furniture, apparel, and
auto parts, but the effect on the overall index was smaller than many
forecasters feared at the start of the year, in part because retailers
absorbed some of the cost and demand for services stayed steady.
The Federal Reserve held its policy rate steady through the first half of the
year, then began cutting again in September, lowering it in three quarter-point
steps to 3.50–3.75% by December.
The federal government shutdown that began October 1 lasted 43 days, and the
Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish a CPI for October 2025 because the
survey data could not be collected. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 78 cents in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 2025: $100 is worth $272 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2025/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 2025. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2025/