$100 in 1997 is worth $136 in 2010,
because prices increased 35.9% over that period, an average of
2.39% a year.
$100 in 1997 has
the same buying power as
$136
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
35.9%
Average inflation rate
2.39% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$136
Price difference ($100 base)
$35.86
CPI in 1997
160.5
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 1997 → 2010
$136
$100 in 2010 → 1997
$73.60
What happened to prices between 1997 and 2010
Between 1997 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 160.5 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 35.9%, which works out to an average of
2.39% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1997 bought what
$0.74 buys in 2010: the 1997 dollar
lost 26.4% of its purchasing power over
these 13 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 2010 at the same ratio, 1.36: $1,000 becomes
$1,359, and $10,000 becomes $13,586.
Amount in 1997
Value in 2010
$1.00
$1.36
$5.00
$6.79
$10.00
$13.59
$20.00
$27.17
$50.00
$67.93
$100
$136
$500
$679
$1,000
$1,359
$5,000
$6,793
$10,000
$13,586
$100,000
$135,860
$1,000,000
$1,358,604
Inflation by spending category, 1997–2010
Between 1997 and 2010, energy rose the most, up 89.6%, while apparel fell 10.1%, against 35.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1997
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1997 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.39%
$136
Energy
5.05%
$190
Medical care
3.96%
$166
Food
2.60%
$140
Housing
2.50%
$138
Transportation
2.28%
$134
Education & communication
2.16%
$132
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.07%
$131
Recreation
1.00%
$114
Apparel
-0.81%
$89.92
Decade by decade: 1997 to 2010
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.39% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.37% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1997–2010 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1997, at end
1997–2000
2.37%
7.3%
$107
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$136
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1997
$100 from 1997 had already become $115 by
2003, on its way to $136 in 2010; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.8% in 2008, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1997 had the buying
power of $136; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 1997 to 2010: $100 is worth $136 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1997 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2010/