$100 in 2002 is worth $132 in 2015,
because prices increased 31.7% over that period, an average of
2.14% a year.
$100 in 2002 has
the same buying power as
$132
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
31.7%
Average inflation rate
2.14% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$132
Price difference ($100 base)
$31.75
CPI in 2002
179.9
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 2002 → 2015
$132
$100 in 2015 → 2002
$75.90
What happened to prices between 2002 and 2015
Between 2002 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 179.9 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 31.7%, which works out to an average of
2.14% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2002 bought what
$0.76 buys in 2015: the 2002 dollar
lost 24.1% of its purchasing power over
these 13 years.
The CPI rose 1.6% in 2002, the lowest annual rate of the decade so far, with gasoline down to an
average of $1.36 a gallon and slack in the labor market keeping wage pressure low. The median
household earned about $42,400, and a new home cost roughly $187,600, an increase of about 7%
from the year before as low mortgage rates began to lift housing. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate to 1.25% in November. Stocks were moving the other way: after the Enron and WorldCom
scandals, the S&P 500 hit its bear-market low on October 9, about 49% below its March 2000
peak, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July to tighten corporate accounting rules.
On January 1, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 European countries. A
first-class stamp rose to 37 cents in June, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15.
Every 2002 amount converts to 2015 at the same ratio, 1.32: $1,000 becomes
$1,317, and $10,000 becomes $13,175.
Amount in 2002
Value in 2015
$1.00
$1.32
$5.00
$6.59
$10.00
$13.17
$20.00
$26.35
$50.00
$65.87
$100
$132
$500
$659
$1,000
$1,317
$5,000
$6,587
$10,000
$13,175
$100,000
$131,749
$1,000,000
$1,317,493
Inflation by spending category, 2002–2015
Between 2002 and 2015, energy rose the most, up 66.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 1.5%, against 31.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2002
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2002 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.14%
$132
Energy
4.01%
$167
Medical care
3.50%
$156
Food
2.64%
$140
Housing
2.16%
$132
Transportation
2.05%
$130
Education & communication
1.92%
$128
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.87%
$127
Recreation
0.68%
$109
Apparel
0.12%
$102
Decade by decade: 2002 to 2015
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.43% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.68% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2002–2015 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2002, at end
2002–2010
2.43%
21.2%
$121
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$132
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2002
$100 from 2002 had already become $120 by
2008, on its way to $132 in 2015; 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 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 2002 had the buying
power of $132; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 2002 to 2015: $100 is worth $132 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2002-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2002 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2002-to-2015/