$100 in 1997 is worth $102 in 1998,
because prices increased 1.6% over that period, an average of
1.56% a year.
$100 in 1997 has
the same buying power as
$102
in 1998
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1.6%
Average inflation rate
1.56% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$102
Price difference ($100 base)
$1.56
CPI in 1997
160.5
CPI in 1998
163
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
$100 in 1997 → 1998
$102
$100 in 1998 → 1997
$98.47
What happened to prices between 1997 and 1998
Between 1997 and 1998, the Consumer Price Index went from 160.5 to 163.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1.6%, which works out to an average of
1.56% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1997 bought what
$0.98 buys in 1998: the 1997 dollar
lost 1.5% of its purchasing power over
these 1 years.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
Every 1997 amount converts to 1998 at the same ratio, 1.02: $1,000 becomes
$1,016, and $10,000 becomes $10,156.
Amount in 1997
Value in 1998
$1.00
$1.02
$5.00
$5.08
$10.00
$10.16
$20.00
$20.31
$50.00
$50.78
$100
$102
$500
$508
$1,000
$1,016
$5,000
$5,078
$10,000
$10,156
$100,000
$101,558
$1,000,000
$1,015,576
Inflation by spending category, 1997–1998
Between 1997 and 1998, medical care rose the most, up 3.2%, while energy fell 7.7%, against 1.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1997
spending costs in 1998, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1997 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.56%
$102
Medical care
3.20%
$103
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.30%
$102
Housing
2.30%
$102
Food
2.16%
$102
Education & communication
1.93%
$102
Recreation
1.51%
$102
Apparel
0.08%
$100
Transportation
-1.87%
$98.13
Energy
-7.71%
$92.29
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1997
$100 from 1997grew to $102 by 1998; each row
shows the CPI, that year's inflation rate, and the running value.
In 1998, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1997 had the buying
power of $102; the year's average CPI of 163 is the level
behind every 1998 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $38,900 in 1998, gas averaged just $1.06 a gallon, its
cheapest of the decade, and a new home cost roughly $152,500. Inflation ran at 1.6% for the
year, the lowest of the 1990s, as a glut of crude oil, worsened by weak demand from Asia’s
slowdown, pushed prices below $11 a barrel by December and pulled pump prices down with them.
The calm at home came alongside real turmoil abroad: in August, Russia devalued the ruble and
defaulted on its domestic debt, rattling markets already unsettled by the Asian financial
crisis, and in September the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management collapsed after its highly
leveraged bets went bad, prompting the Federal Reserve to organize a private-sector bailout by
more than a dozen banks to prevent a disorderly unwinding of its roughly $100 billion in
positions. The Fed also cut interest rates three times that fall, in September, October, and
November, an insurance policy against the global financial turmoil spreading to the U.S.
economy. Cheap oil and a well-timed set of rate cuts left 1998 as a year the U.S. economy
absorbed two foreign financial crises without much of a dent at home.
MLA: “Inflation from 1997 to 1998: $100 is worth $102 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-1998/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1997 to 1998. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-1998/