$100 in 1997 is worth $112 in 2002,
because prices increased 12.1% over that period, an average of
2.31% a year.
$100 in 1997 has
the same buying power as
$112
in 2002
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
12.1%
Average inflation rate
2.31% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$112
Price difference ($100 base)
$12.09
CPI in 1997
160.5
CPI in 2002
179.9
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
$100 in 1997 → 2002
$112
$100 in 2002 → 1997
$89.22
What happened to prices between 1997 and 2002
Between 1997 and 2002, the Consumer Price Index went from 160.5 to 179.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 12.1%, which works out to an average of
2.31% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1997 bought what
$0.89 buys in 2002: the 1997 dollar
lost 10.8% of its purchasing power over
these 5 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 2002 at the same ratio, 1.12: $1,000 becomes
$1,121, and $10,000 becomes $11,209.
Amount in 1997
Value in 2002
$1.00
$1.12
$5.00
$5.60
$10.00
$11.21
$20.00
$22.42
$50.00
$56.04
$100
$112
$500
$560
$1,000
$1,121
$5,000
$5,604
$10,000
$11,209
$100,000
$112,087
$1,000,000
$1,120,872
Inflation by spending category, 1997–2002
Between 1997 and 2002, medical care rose the most, up 21.7%, while apparel fell 6.7%, against 12.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1997
spending costs in 2002, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1997 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.31%
$112
Medical care
4.01%
$122
Housing
2.83%
$115
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.36%
$112
Food
2.30%
$112
Education & communication
1.86%
$110
Energy
1.77%
$109
Recreation
1.29%
$107
Transportation
1.16%
$106
Apparel
-1.38%
$93.30
Decade by decade: 1997 to 2002
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.37% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.21% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1997–2002 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1997, at end
1997–2000
2.37%
7.3%
$107
2000–2002
2.21%
4.5%
$112
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1997
$100 from 1997 had already become $104 by
1999, on its way to $112 in 2002; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.4% in 2000, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2002, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1997 had the buying
power of $112; the year's average CPI of 179.9 is the level
behind every 2002 figure on this page.
The CPI rose 1.6% in 2002, the lowest annual rate of the decade so far, with gasoline down to an
average of $1.36 a gallon and slack in the labor market keeping wage pressure low. The median
household earned about $42,400, and a new home cost roughly $187,600, an increase of about 7%
from the year before as low mortgage rates began to lift housing. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate to 1.25% in November. Stocks were moving the other way: after the Enron and WorldCom
scandals, the S&P 500 hit its bear-market low on October 9, about 49% below its March 2000
peak, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July to tighten corporate accounting rules.
On January 1, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 European countries. A
first-class stamp rose to 37 cents in June, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1997 to 2002: $100 is worth $112 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2002/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1997 to 2002. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2002/