$100 in 1997 is worth $156 in 2018,
because prices increased 56.5% over that period, an average of
2.15% a year.
$100 in 1997 has
the same buying power as
$156
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
56.5%
Average inflation rate
2.15% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$156
Price difference ($100 base)
$56.45
CPI in 1997
160.5
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 1997 → 2018
$156
$100 in 2018 → 1997
$63.92
What happened to prices between 1997 and 2018
Between 1997 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 160.5 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 56.5%, which works out to an average of
2.15% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1997 bought what
$0.64 buys in 2018: the 1997 dollar
lost 36.1% of its purchasing power over
these 21 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 2018 at the same ratio, 1.56: $1,000 becomes
$1,565, and $10,000 becomes $15,645.
Amount in 1997
Value in 2018
$1.00
$1.56
$5.00
$7.82
$10.00
$15.65
$20.00
$31.29
$50.00
$78.23
$100
$156
$500
$782
$1,000
$1,565
$5,000
$7,823
$10,000
$15,645
$100,000
$156,453
$1,000,000
$1,564,530
Inflation by spending category, 1997–2018
Between 1997 and 2018, medical care rose the most, up 106.6%, while apparel fell 5.5%, against 56.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1997
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1997 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.15%
$156
Medical care
3.52%
$207
Energy
3.29%
$197
Housing
2.41%
$165
Food
2.30%
$161
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.01%
$152
Transportation
1.82%
$146
Education & communication
1.58%
$139
Recreation
0.85%
$120
Apparel
-0.27%
$94.55
Decade by decade: 1997 to 2018
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.39% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1997–2018 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
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$156
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1997
$100 from 1997 had already become $129 by
2007, on its way to $156 in 2018; 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 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 1997 had the buying
power of $156; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1997 to 2018: $100 is worth $156 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1997 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2018/