$100 in 1997 is worth $153 in 2017,
because prices increased 52.7% over that period, an average of
2.14% a year.
$100 in 1997 has
the same buying power as
$153
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
52.7%
Average inflation rate
2.14% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$153
Price difference ($100 base)
$52.72
CPI in 1997
160.5
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 1997 → 2017
$153
$100 in 2017 → 1997
$65.48
What happened to prices between 1997 and 2017
Between 1997 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 160.5 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 52.7%, which works out to an average of
2.14% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1997 bought what
$0.65 buys in 2017: the 1997 dollar
lost 34.5% of its purchasing power over
these 20 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 2017 at the same ratio, 1.53: $1,000 becomes
$1,527, and $10,000 becomes $15,272.
Amount in 1997
Value in 2017
$1.00
$1.53
$5.00
$7.64
$10.00
$15.27
$20.00
$30.54
$50.00
$76.36
$100
$153
$500
$764
$1,000
$1,527
$5,000
$7,636
$10,000
$15,272
$100,000
$152,723
$1,000,000
$1,527,227
Inflation by spending category, 1997–2017
Between 1997 and 2017, medical care rose the most, up 102.6%, while apparel fell 5.5%, against 52.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1997
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1997 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.14%
$153
Medical care
3.59%
$203
Energy
3.08%
$183
Housing
2.38%
$160
Food
2.34%
$159
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.01%
$149
Transportation
1.69%
$140
Education & communication
1.65%
$139
Recreation
0.87%
$119
Apparel
-0.28%
$94.52
Decade by decade: 1997 to 2017
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.39% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1997–2017 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
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$153
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1997
$100 from 1997 had already become $129 by
2007, on its way to $153 in 2017; 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 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1997 had the buying
power of $153; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1997 to 2017: $100 is worth $153 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1997 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2017/