$100 in 1998 is worth $180 in 2022,
because prices increased 79.5% over that period, an average of
2.47% a year.
$100 in 1998 has
the same buying power as
$180
in 2022
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
79.5%
Average inflation rate
2.47% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$180
Price difference ($100 base)
$79.54
CPI in 1998
163
CPI in 2022
292.655
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
Inflation in 2022
8.00%
$100 in 1998 → 2022
$180
$100 in 2022 → 1998
$55.70
What happened to prices between 1998 and 2022
Between 1998 and 2022, the Consumer Price Index went from 163 to 292.655.
Cumulatively, prices increased 79.5%, which works out to an average of
2.47% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1998 bought what
$0.56 buys in 2022: the 1998 dollar
lost 44.3% of its purchasing power over
these 24 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 2022 at the same ratio, 1.80: $1,000 becomes
$1,795, and $10,000 becomes $17,954.
Amount in 1998
Value in 2022
$1.00
$1.80
$5.00
$8.98
$10.00
$17.95
$20.00
$35.91
$50.00
$89.77
$100
$180
$500
$898
$1,000
$1,795
$5,000
$8,977
$10,000
$17,954
$100,000
$179,543
$1,000,000
$1,795,429
Inflation by spending category, 1998–2022
Between 1998 and 2022, energy rose the most, up 189.9%, while apparel fell 4.5%, against 79.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1998
spending costs in 2022, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1998 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.47%
$180
Energy
4.53%
$290
Medical care
3.45%
$226
Food
2.71%
$190
Transportation
2.67%
$188
Housing
2.65%
$188
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.23%
$170
Education & communication
1.51%
$143
Recreation
1.08%
$129
Apparel
-0.19%
$95.55
Decade by decade: 1998 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 1998–2022 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$159
2020–2022
6.34%
13.1%
$180
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1998
$100 from 1998 had already become $134 by
2010, on its way to $180 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 1998 had the buying
power of $180; 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 1998 to 2022: $100 is worth $180 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2022/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1998 to 2022. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2022/