$100 in 1997 is worth $150 in 2016,
because prices increased 49.5% over that period, an average of
2.14% a year.
$100 in 1997 has
the same buying power as
$150
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
49.5%
Average inflation rate
2.14% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$150
Price difference ($100 base)
$49.54
CPI in 1997
160.5
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1997 → 2016
$150
$100 in 2016 → 1997
$66.87
What happened to prices between 1997 and 2016
Between 1997 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 160.5 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 49.5%, which works out to an average of
2.14% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1997 bought what
$0.67 buys in 2016: the 1997 dollar
lost 33.1% of its purchasing power over
these 19 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 2016 at the same ratio, 1.50: $1,000 becomes
$1,495, and $10,000 becomes $14,954.
Amount in 1997
Value in 2016
$1.00
$1.50
$5.00
$7.48
$10.00
$14.95
$20.00
$29.91
$50.00
$74.77
$100
$150
$500
$748
$1,000
$1,495
$5,000
$7,477
$10,000
$14,954
$100,000
$149,537
$1,000,000
$1,495,371
Inflation by spending category, 1997–2016
Between 1997 and 2016, medical care rose the most, up 97.6%, while apparel fell 5.2%, against 49.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1997
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1997 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.14%
$150
Medical care
3.65%
$198
Energy
2.83%
$170
Food
2.42%
$158
Housing
2.35%
$156
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.01%
$146
Education & communication
1.84%
$141
Transportation
1.59%
$135
Recreation
0.85%
$117
Apparel
-0.28%
$94.84
Decade by decade: 1997 to 2016
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.39% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1997–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$150
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1997
$100 from 1997 had already become $126 by
2006, on its way to $150 in 2016; 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 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1997 had the buying
power of $150; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1997 to 2016: $100 is worth $150 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1997 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2016/