$100 in 1997 is worth $190 in 2023,
because prices increased 89.8% over that period, an average of
2.50% a year.
$100 in 1997 has
the same buying power as
$190
in 2023
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
89.8%
Average inflation rate
2.50% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$190
Price difference ($100 base)
$89.85
CPI in 1997
160.5
CPI in 2023
304.702
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
Inflation in 2023
4.12%
$100 in 1997 → 2023
$190
$100 in 2023 → 1997
$52.67
What happened to prices between 1997 and 2023
Between 1997 and 2023, the Consumer Price Index went from 160.5 to 304.702.
Cumulatively, prices increased 89.8%, which works out to an average of
2.50% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1997 bought what
$0.53 buys in 2023: the 1997 dollar
lost 47.3% of its purchasing power over
these 26 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 2023 at the same ratio, 1.90: $1,000 becomes
$1,898, and $10,000 becomes $18,985.
Amount in 1997
Value in 2023
$1.00
$1.90
$5.00
$9.49
$10.00
$18.98
$20.00
$37.97
$50.00
$94.92
$100
$190
$500
$949
$1,000
$1,898
$5,000
$9,492
$10,000
$18,985
$100,000
$189,845
$1,000,000
$1,898,455
Inflation by spending category, 1997–2023
Between 1997 and 2023, energy rose the most, up 154.1%, while apparel fell 1.7%, against 89.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1997
spending costs in 2023, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1997 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.50%
$190
Energy
3.65%
$254
Medical care
3.32%
$234
Food
2.81%
$205
Housing
2.78%
$204
Transportation
2.39%
$185
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.33%
$182
Education & communication
1.51%
$148
Recreation
1.21%
$137
Apparel
-0.07%
$98.25
Decade by decade: 1997 to 2023
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 5.59% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1997–2023 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
2020–2023
5.59%
17.7%
$190
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1997
$100 from 1997 had already become $136 by
2010, on its way to $190 in 2023; 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 2023, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1997 had the buying
power of $190; the year's average CPI of 304.702 is the level
behind every 2023 figure on this page.
2023 was the year inflation came down without a recession. Consumer prices
rose 4.1% on average, roughly half of 2022’s 8.0%, and the December-to-December
rate fell to 3.4%. Gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon, well below the 2022
average, and supply-chain pressure on goods eased. Shelter, restaurant meals,
and other services stayed expensive, so the CPI kept rising at a rate well
above the pre-pandemic pace.
The Federal Reserve completed its rate-hiking campaign in July, taking the
policy rate to 5.25–5.50%, the highest level in 22 years. The effects showed
up in banking: Silicon Valley Bank failed in March after rate increases eroded
the value of its bond portfolio, the second-largest bank failure in U.S.
history at the time. Despite that, unemployment stayed under 4% all year.
Median household income was $80,610 according to the Census Bureau. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp rose to 66 cents
in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1997 to 2023: $100 is worth $190 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2023/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1997 to 2023. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2023/