$100 in 2000 is worth $157 in 2021,
because prices increased 57.4% over that period, an average of
2.18% a year.
$100 in 2000 has
the same buying power as
$157
in 2021
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
57.4%
Average inflation rate
2.18% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$157
Price difference ($100 base)
$57.36
CPI in 2000
172.2
CPI in 2021
270.97
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
Inflation in 2021
4.70%
$100 in 2000 → 2021
$157
$100 in 2021 → 2000
$63.55
What happened to prices between 2000 and 2021
Between 2000 and 2021, the Consumer Price Index went from 172.2 to 270.97.
Cumulatively, prices increased 57.4%, which works out to an average of
2.18% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2000 bought what
$0.64 buys in 2021: the 2000 dollar
lost 36.5% of its purchasing power over
these 21 years.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
Every 2000 amount converts to 2021 at the same ratio, 1.57: $1,000 becomes
$1,574, and $10,000 becomes $15,736.
Amount in 2000
Value in 2021
$1.00
$1.57
$5.00
$7.87
$10.00
$15.74
$20.00
$31.47
$50.00
$78.68
$100
$157
$500
$787
$1,000
$1,574
$5,000
$7,868
$10,000
$15,736
$100,000
$157,358
$1,000,000
$1,573,577
Inflation by spending category, 2000–2021
Between 2000 and 2021, medical care rose the most, up 101.4%, while apparel fell 6.6%, against 57.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2000
spending costs in 2021, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2000 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.18%
$157
Medical care
3.39%
$201
Energy
3.14%
$191
Food
2.43%
$166
Housing
2.43%
$166
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.04%
$153
Transportation
1.96%
$150
Education & communication
1.59%
$139
Recreation
0.92%
$121
Apparel
-0.33%
$93.36
Decade by decade: 2000 to 2021
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 4.70% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2000–2021 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2000, at end
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$127
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$150
2020–2021
4.70%
4.7%
$157
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2000
$100 from 2000 had already become $127 by
2010, on its way to $157 in 2021; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 4.7% in 2021, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2021, prices rose 4.7% and $100 from 2000 had the buying
power of $157; the year's average CPI of 270.97 is the level
behind every 2021 figure on this page.
2021 was the year inflation stopped being background noise. Consumer prices
rose 4.7% on average for the year, and the pace kept building as the months
went on: by December, the 12-month rate had reached 7.0%, the highest since
1982. The proximate cause was a supply chain that could not keep up with a
fast-reopening economy. A global semiconductor shortage choked new car
production and pushed used vehicle prices up by more than a third, the
single largest line item in the year’s inflation math. Lumber, appliances,
and shipping capacity told versions of the same story: demand snapped back
faster than factories, ports, and truckers could handle it. Washington added
fuel in March with the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, on top of the
relief already in the pipeline since 2020. For most of the year, the Federal
Reserve called the price surge “transitory,” a temporary reopening effect
expected to fade on its own, and held its policy rate near zero. By
November, with inflation still climbing, the Fed reversed course and began
winding down its bond purchases, the first step toward the rate hikes that
would follow in 2022. Gas averaged $3.01 a gallon for the year, up from
about $2.17 in 2020, while the federal minimum wage held at $7.25,
unchanged since 2009. In hindsight, 2021 reads as the hinge year: the point
where “transitory” inflation became the multi-year fight the Fed spent the
next two years trying to win.
MLA: “Inflation from 2000 to 2021: $100 is worth $157 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2000-to-2021/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2000 to 2021. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2000-to-2021/