$100 in 1998 is worth $192 in 2024,
because prices increased 92.4% over that period, an average of
2.55% a year.
$100 in 1998 has
the same buying power as
$192
in 2024
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
92.4%
Average inflation rate
2.55% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$192
Price difference ($100 base)
$92.45
CPI in 1998
163
CPI in 2024
313.689
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
Inflation in 2024
2.95%
$100 in 1998 → 2024
$192
$100 in 2024 → 1998
$51.96
What happened to prices between 1998 and 2024
Between 1998 and 2024, the Consumer Price Index went from 163 to 313.689.
Cumulatively, prices increased 92.4%, which works out to an average of
2.55% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1998 bought what
$0.52 buys in 2024: the 1998 dollar
lost 48.0% of its purchasing power over
these 26 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 2024 at the same ratio, 1.92: $1,000 becomes
$1,924, and $10,000 becomes $19,245.
Amount in 1998
Value in 2024
$1.00
$1.92
$5.00
$9.62
$10.00
$19.24
$20.00
$38.49
$50.00
$96.22
$100
$192
$500
$962
$1,000
$1,924
$5,000
$9,622
$10,000
$19,245
$100,000
$192,447
$1,000,000
$1,924,472
Inflation by spending category, 1998–2024
Between 1998 and 2024, energy rose the most, up 171.7%, while apparel fell 1.1%, against 92.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1998
spending costs in 2024, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1998 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.55%
$192
Energy
3.92%
$272
Medical care
3.31%
$233
Housing
2.86%
$208
Food
2.81%
$206
Transportation
2.52%
$191
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.37%
$184
Education & communication
1.46%
$146
Recreation
1.21%
$137
Apparel
-0.04%
$98.86
Decade by decade: 1998 to 2024
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 4.93% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1998–2024 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
2020–2024
4.93%
21.2%
$192
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1998
$100 from 1998 had already become $138 by
2011, on its way to $192 in 2024; 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 2024, prices rose 2.9% and $100 from 1998 had the buying
power of $192; the year's average CPI of 313.689 is the level
behind every 2024 figure on this page.
2024 brought inflation close to normal without fully reaching it. Consumer
prices rose 2.9% on average, the smallest yearly increase since 2020, and the
December-to-December rate was also 2.9%. Gasoline averaged $3.30 a gallon,
below 2023’s $3.52. Shelter stayed the biggest driver of the index, so the
pace of price growth in categories that households can’t easily avoid, such as
rent and insurance, lagged the drop in goods and energy costs.
The Federal Reserve declared progress in September, cutting its policy rate
by half a point, the first reduction since the pandemic emergency, and then
by a quarter point in November and again in December. Mortgage rates near 7%
kept the housing market frozen for many would-be buyers.
Median household income was $83,730, the federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 73 cents in July. After the November election,
attention turned to how announced tariffs and tax policy might affect prices
in 2025.
MLA: “Inflation from 1998 to 2024: $100 is worth $192 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2024/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1998 to 2024. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2024/