$100 in 1998 is worth $154 in 2018,
because prices increased 54.1% over that period, an average of
2.18% a year.
$100 in 1998 has
the same buying power as
$154
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
54.1%
Average inflation rate
2.18% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$154
Price difference ($100 base)
$54.05
CPI in 1998
163
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 1998 → 2018
$154
$100 in 2018 → 1998
$64.91
What happened to prices between 1998 and 2018
Between 1998 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 163 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 54.1%, which works out to an average of
2.18% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1998 bought what
$0.65 buys in 2018: the 1998 dollar
lost 35.1% of its purchasing power over
these 20 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 2018 at the same ratio, 1.54: $1,000 becomes
$1,541, and $10,000 becomes $15,405.
Amount in 1998
Value in 2018
$1.00
$1.54
$5.00
$7.70
$10.00
$15.41
$20.00
$30.81
$50.00
$77.03
$100
$154
$500
$770
$1,000
$1,541
$5,000
$7,703
$10,000
$15,405
$100,000
$154,053
$1,000,000
$1,540,534
Inflation by spending category, 1998–2018
Between 1998 and 2018, energy rose the most, up 113.7%, while apparel fell 5.5%, against 54.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1998
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1998 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.18%
$154
Energy
3.87%
$214
Medical care
3.53%
$200
Housing
2.41%
$161
Food
2.31%
$158
Transportation
2.01%
$149
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.00%
$149
Education & communication
1.56%
$136
Recreation
0.82%
$118
Apparel
-0.28%
$94.48
Decade by decade: 1998 to 2018
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.78% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1998–2018 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
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$154
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1998
$100 from 1998 had already become $132 by
2008, on its way to $154 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 1998 had the buying
power of $154; 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 1998 to 2018: $100 is worth $154 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1998 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2018/