$100 in 1997 is worth $182 in 2022,
because prices increased 82.3% over that period, an average of
2.43% a year.
$100 in 1997 has
the same buying power as
$182
in 2022
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
82.3%
Average inflation rate
2.43% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$182
Price difference ($100 base)
$82.34
CPI in 1997
160.5
CPI in 2022
292.655
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
Inflation in 2022
8.00%
$100 in 1997 → 2022
$182
$100 in 2022 → 1997
$54.84
What happened to prices between 1997 and 2022
Between 1997 and 2022, the Consumer Price Index went from 160.5 to 292.655.
Cumulatively, prices increased 82.3%, which works out to an average of
2.43% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1997 bought what
$0.55 buys in 2022: the 1997 dollar
lost 45.2% of its purchasing power over
these 25 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 2022 at the same ratio, 1.82: $1,000 becomes
$1,823, and $10,000 becomes $18,234.
Amount in 1997
Value in 2022
$1.00
$1.82
$5.00
$9.12
$10.00
$18.23
$20.00
$36.47
$50.00
$91.17
$100
$182
$500
$912
$1,000
$1,823
$5,000
$9,117
$10,000
$18,234
$100,000
$182,340
$1,000,000
$1,823,396
Inflation by spending category, 1997–2022
Between 1997 and 2022, energy rose the most, up 167.5%, while apparel fell 4.4%, against 82.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1997
spending costs in 2022, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1997 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.43%
$182
Energy
4.01%
$268
Medical care
3.44%
$233
Food
2.69%
$194
Housing
2.64%
$192
Transportation
2.48%
$185
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.23%
$174
Education & communication
1.53%
$146
Recreation
1.10%
$131
Apparel
-0.18%
$95.62
Decade by decade: 1997 to 2022
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 6.34% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1997–2022 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$161
2020–2022
6.34%
13.1%
$182
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1997
$100 from 1997 had already become $134 by
2009, on its way to $182 in 2022; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 8.0% in 2022, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2022, prices rose 8.0% and $100 from 1997 had the buying
power of $182; the year's average CPI of 292.655 is the level
behind every 2022 figure on this page.
2022 was the year inflation returned. Consumer prices rose 8.0% on average,
the worst since 1981, driven by pandemic-era supply chains, stimulus-fueled
demand, and an energy shock from the war in Ukraine. Gas briefly topped $5 a
gallon nationally for the first time ever, and “inflation” became the
top-ranked economic concern in nearly every poll of American households.
MLA: “Inflation from 1997 to 2022: $100 is worth $182 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2022/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1997 to 2022. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2022/