$100 in 1997 is worth $129 in 2007,
because prices increased 29.2% over that period, an average of
2.59% a year.
$100 in 1997 has
the same buying power as
$129
in 2007
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
29.2%
Average inflation rate
2.59% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$129
Price difference ($100 base)
$29.19
CPI in 1997
160.5
CPI in 2007
207.342
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
Inflation in 2007
2.85%
$100 in 1997 → 2007
$129
$100 in 2007 → 1997
$77.41
What happened to prices between 1997 and 2007
Between 1997 and 2007, the Consumer Price Index went from 160.5 to 207.342.
Cumulatively, prices increased 29.2%, which works out to an average of
2.59% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1997 bought what
$0.77 buys in 2007: the 1997 dollar
lost 22.6% of its purchasing power over
these 10 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 2007 at the same ratio, 1.29: $1,000 becomes
$1,292, and $10,000 becomes $12,919.
Amount in 1997
Value in 2007
$1.00
$1.29
$5.00
$6.46
$10.00
$12.92
$20.00
$25.84
$50.00
$64.59
$100
$129
$500
$646
$1,000
$1,292
$5,000
$6,459
$10,000
$12,919
$100,000
$129,185
$1,000,000
$1,291,850
Inflation by spending category, 1997–2007
Between 1997 and 2007, energy rose the most, up 86.3%, while apparel fell 10.5%, against 29.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1997
spending costs in 2007, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1997 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.59%
$129
Energy
6.42%
$186
Medical care
4.11%
$150
Housing
2.94%
$134
Food
2.58%
$129
Transportation
2.50%
$128
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.20%
$124
Education & communication
1.97%
$122
Recreation
1.13%
$112
Apparel
-1.10%
$89.54
Decade by decade: 1997 to 2007
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.69% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.37% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1997–2007 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1997, at end
1997–2000
2.37%
7.3%
$107
2000–2007
2.69%
20.4%
$129
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1997
$100 from 1997 had already become $112 by
2002, on its way to $129 in 2007; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.4% in 2005, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2007, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1997 had the buying
power of $129; the year's average CPI of 207.342 is the level
behind every 2007 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.8% in 2007, with gasoline averaging $2.80 a gallon, but the year is better
known for what began underneath prices. In August, French bank BNP Paribas froze funds tied to
U.S. subprime mortgages, and credit between banks tightened. The Federal Reserve responded with
a half-point cut on September 18, its first in four years, and took the policy rate from 5.25% to
4.25% by December. The economy peaked that month, by the National Bureau of Economic Research’s
dating, and the Great Recession followed. The median household earned about $50,200, and the
median new home cost $247,900. Congress ended the decade-long freeze on the federal minimum wage
in May, with the first of three steps to $5.85 in July. A first-class stamp cost 41 cents.
MLA: “Inflation from 1997 to 2007: $100 is worth $129 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2007/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1997 to 2007. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2007/