$100 in 1997 is worth $143 in 2012,
because prices increased 43.0% over that period, an average of
2.42% a year.
$100 in 1997 has
the same buying power as
$143
in 2012
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
43.0%
Average inflation rate
2.42% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$143
Price difference ($100 base)
$43.05
CPI in 1997
160.5
CPI in 2012
229.594
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
Inflation in 2012
2.07%
$100 in 1997 → 2012
$143
$100 in 2012 → 1997
$69.91
What happened to prices between 1997 and 2012
Between 1997 and 2012, the Consumer Price Index went from 160.5 to 229.594.
Cumulatively, prices increased 43.0%, which works out to an average of
2.42% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1997 bought what
$0.70 buys in 2012: the 1997 dollar
lost 30.1% of its purchasing power over
these 15 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 2012 at the same ratio, 1.43: $1,000 becomes
$1,430, and $10,000 becomes $14,305.
Amount in 1997
Value in 2012
$1.00
$1.43
$5.00
$7.15
$10.00
$14.30
$20.00
$28.61
$50.00
$71.52
$100
$143
$500
$715
$1,000
$1,430
$5,000
$7,152
$10,000
$14,305
$100,000
$143,049
$1,000,000
$1,430,492
Inflation by spending category, 1997–2012
Between 1997 and 2012, energy rose the most, up 120.7%, while apparel fell 5.0%, against 43.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1997
spending costs in 2012, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1997 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.42%
$143
Energy
5.42%
$221
Medical care
3.87%
$177
Transportation
2.77%
$151
Food
2.68%
$149
Housing
2.37%
$142
Education & communication
2.07%
$136
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.05%
$136
Recreation
0.95%
$115
Apparel
-0.34%
$95.01
Decade by decade: 1997 to 2012
Prices climbed fastest in the 2010s, averaging 2.61% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.37% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1997–2012 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
2010–2012
2.61%
5.3%
$143
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1997
$100 from 1997 had already become $118 by
2004, on its way to $143 in 2012; 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 2012, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1997 had the buying
power of $143; the year's average CPI of 229.594 is the level
behind every 2012 figure on this page.
2012 put a number on what the Federal Reserve was aiming for. In January the
Fed announced a 2% inflation target, and consumer prices rose 2.1% for the
year, almost exactly on it. Gasoline averaged $3.62 a gallon, another annual
high, but the pace of increase cooled from 2011’s 3.2% as food and core prices
grew more slowly.
The bigger story was housing and jobs. Home prices began to recover, and the
median new home sold for about $245,200, up from $227,200 the year before.
Median household income was $51,017. The federal minimum wage held at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 45 cents.
In September the Fed started a third round of asset purchases, this one with
no fixed end date, aimed at lowering unemployment. Overseas, the European
Central Bank’s July pledge to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro calmed
bond markets. A summer drought across the Midwest drove corn and soybean
prices to records, a shock that reached grocery shelves only partly, because
most of what shoppers pay for food covers processing and transport rather than
raw crops.
MLA: “Inflation from 1997 to 2012: $100 is worth $143 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2012/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1997 to 2012. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2012/