$100 in 1998 is worth $157 in 2019,
because prices increased 56.8% over that period, an average of
2.17% a year.
$100 in 1998 has
the same buying power as
$157
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
56.8%
Average inflation rate
2.17% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$157
Price difference ($100 base)
$56.84
CPI in 1998
163
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 1998 → 2019
$157
$100 in 2019 → 1998
$63.76
What happened to prices between 1998 and 2019
Between 1998 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 163 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 56.8%, which works out to an average of
2.17% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1998 bought what
$0.64 buys in 2019: the 1998 dollar
lost 36.2% of its purchasing power over
these 21 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 2019 at the same ratio, 1.57: $1,000 becomes
$1,568, and $10,000 becomes $15,684.
Amount in 1998
Value in 2019
$1.00
$1.57
$5.00
$7.84
$10.00
$15.68
$20.00
$31.37
$50.00
$78.42
$100
$157
$500
$784
$1,000
$1,568
$5,000
$7,842
$10,000
$15,684
$100,000
$156,845
$1,000,000
$1,568,448
Inflation by spending category, 1998–2019
Between 1998 and 2019, energy rose the most, up 109.2%, while apparel fell 6.7%, against 56.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1998
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1998 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.17%
$157
Energy
3.58%
$209
Medical care
3.50%
$206
Housing
2.44%
$166
Food
2.29%
$161
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.01%
$152
Transportation
1.90%
$148
Education & communication
1.52%
$137
Recreation
0.84%
$119
Apparel
-0.33%
$93.27
Decade by decade: 1998 to 2019
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 1998–2019 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
2010–2019
1.78%
17.2%
$157
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1998
$100 from 1998 had already become $132 by
2008, on its way to $157 in 2019; 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 2019, prices rose 1.8% and $100 from 1998 had the buying
power of $157; the year's average CPI of 255.657 is the level
behind every 2019 figure on this page.
2019 was the last ordinary year before COVID-19. Consumer prices rose 1.8%,
slightly under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with gasoline averaging
$2.60 a gallon. Median household income jumped to $68,703, the highest on
record up to that point, and the median new home sold for about $328,000. A
first-class stamp rose to 55 cents.
The Fed reversed course. After four increases in 2018, it cut rates three
times, to 1.50–1.75%, citing slower global growth, trade tensions, and low
inflation. In July the expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in
U.S. records, and in August the yield curve briefly inverted, a signal
investors read as a recession warning.
For workers at the bottom of the pay scale, 2019 marked a milestone of a
different kind. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and reached its tenth
year without an increase, the longest gap since the wage was first set. Because
prices had climbed about 19% since it was last raised in 2009, its buying power
was lower than at any point in that span.
MLA: “Inflation from 1998 to 2019: $100 is worth $157 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1998 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2019/