$100 in 1998 is worth $150 in 2017,
because prices increased 50.4% over that period, an average of
2.17% a year.
$100 in 1998 has
the same buying power as
$150
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
50.4%
Average inflation rate
2.17% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$150
Price difference ($100 base)
$50.38
CPI in 1998
163
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 1998 → 2017
$150
$100 in 2017 → 1998
$66.50
What happened to prices between 1998 and 2017
Between 1998 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 163 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 50.4%, which works out to an average of
2.17% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1998 bought what
$0.66 buys in 2017: the 1998 dollar
lost 33.5% of its purchasing power over
these 19 years.
The median household earned about $38,900 in 1998, gas averaged just $1.06 a gallon, its
cheapest of the decade, and a new home cost roughly $152,500. Inflation ran at 1.6% for the
year, the lowest of the 1990s, as a glut of crude oil, worsened by weak demand from Asia’s
slowdown, pushed prices below $11 a barrel by December and pulled pump prices down with them.
The calm at home came alongside real turmoil abroad: in August, Russia devalued the ruble and
defaulted on its domestic debt, rattling markets already unsettled by the Asian financial
crisis, and in September the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management collapsed after its highly
leveraged bets went bad, prompting the Federal Reserve to organize a private-sector bailout by
more than a dozen banks to prevent a disorderly unwinding of its roughly $100 billion in
positions. The Fed also cut interest rates three times that fall, in September, October, and
November, an insurance policy against the global financial turmoil spreading to the U.S.
economy. Cheap oil and a well-timed set of rate cuts left 1998 as a year the U.S. economy
absorbed two foreign financial crises without much of a dent at home.
Every 1998 amount converts to 2017 at the same ratio, 1.50: $1,000 becomes
$1,504, and $10,000 becomes $15,038.
Amount in 1998
Value in 2017
$1.00
$1.50
$5.00
$7.52
$10.00
$15.04
$20.00
$30.08
$50.00
$75.19
$100
$150
$500
$752
$1,000
$1,504
$5,000
$7,519
$10,000
$15,038
$100,000
$150,380
$1,000,000
$1,503,804
Inflation by spending category, 1998–2017
Between 1998 and 2017, energy rose the most, up 98.8%, while apparel fell 5.6%, against 50.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1998
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1998 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.17%
$150
Energy
3.68%
$199
Medical care
3.61%
$196
Housing
2.39%
$157
Food
2.35%
$156
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.99%
$145
Transportation
1.88%
$142
Education & communication
1.64%
$136
Recreation
0.84%
$117
Apparel
-0.30%
$94.45
Decade by decade: 1998 to 2017
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.78% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1998–2017 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1998, at end
1998–2000
2.78%
5.6%
$106
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$134
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$150
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1998
$100 from 1998 had already become $127 by
2007, on its way to $150 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 1998 had the buying
power of $150; 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 1998 to 2017: $100 is worth $150 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1998 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2017/