$100 in 2002 is worth $151 in 2021,
because prices increased 50.6% over that period, an average of
2.18% a year.
$100 in 2002 has
the same buying power as
$151
in 2021
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
50.6%
Average inflation rate
2.18% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$151
Price difference ($100 base)
$50.62
CPI in 2002
179.9
CPI in 2021
270.97
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
Inflation in 2021
4.70%
$100 in 2002 → 2021
$151
$100 in 2021 → 2002
$66.39
What happened to prices between 2002 and 2021
Between 2002 and 2021, the Consumer Price Index went from 179.9 to 270.97.
Cumulatively, prices increased 50.6%, which works out to an average of
2.18% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2002 bought what
$0.66 buys in 2021: the 2002 dollar
lost 33.6% of its purchasing power over
these 19 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 2021 at the same ratio, 1.51: $1,000 becomes
$1,506, and $10,000 becomes $15,062.
Amount in 2002
Value in 2021
$1.00
$1.51
$5.00
$7.53
$10.00
$15.06
$20.00
$30.12
$50.00
$75.31
$100
$151
$500
$753
$1,000
$1,506
$5,000
$7,531
$10,000
$15,062
$100,000
$150,623
$1,000,000
$1,506,226
Inflation by spending category, 2002–2021
Between 2002 and 2021, energy rose the most, up 95.8%, while apparel fell 2.4%, against 50.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2002
spending costs in 2021, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2002 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.18%
$151
Energy
3.60%
$196
Medical care
3.26%
$184
Food
2.42%
$158
Housing
2.36%
$156
Transportation
2.19%
$151
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.99%
$146
Education & communication
1.48%
$132
Recreation
0.87%
$118
Apparel
-0.13%
$97.58
Decade by decade: 2002 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 2002–2021 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2002, at end
2002–2010
2.43%
21.2%
$121
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$144
2020–2021
4.70%
4.7%
$151
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2002
$100 from 2002 had already become $125 by
2011, on its way to $151 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 2002 had the buying
power of $151; 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 2002 to 2021: $100 is worth $151 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2002-to-2021/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2002 to 2021. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2002-to-2021/