$100 in 2003 is worth $122 in 2011,
because prices increased 22.2% over that period, an average of
2.54% a year.
$100 in 2003 has
the same buying power as
$122
in 2011
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
22.2%
Average inflation rate
2.54% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$122
Price difference ($100 base)
$22.25
CPI in 2003
184
CPI in 2011
224.939
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
Inflation in 2011
3.16%
$100 in 2003 → 2011
$122
$100 in 2011 → 2003
$81.80
What happened to prices between 2003 and 2011
Between 2003 and 2011, the Consumer Price Index went from 184 to 224.939.
Cumulatively, prices increased 22.2%, which works out to an average of
2.54% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2003 bought what
$0.82 buys in 2011: the 2003 dollar
lost 18.2% of its purchasing power over
these 8 years.
Inflation was 2.3% in 2003, up from 1.6% in 2002, as gasoline climbed from $1.36 to $1.59 a
gallon around the March invasion of Iraq. Even so, the Federal Reserve spent the year worried
about prices being too low: on June 25 it cut its policy rate to 1.0%, the lowest since 1958,
and said the risk of deflation, though small, deserved a response. The median household earned
about $43,300 and a new home cost roughly $195,000. Congress passed a second round of tax cuts
in May, and the economy grew faster in the second half of the year than at any point since
1999. Hiring lagged the recovery, and unemployment peaked at 6.3% in June. A first-class stamp
stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15.
Every 2003 amount converts to 2011 at the same ratio, 1.22: $1,000 becomes
$1,222, and $10,000 becomes $12,225.
Amount in 2003
Value in 2011
$1.00
$1.22
$5.00
$6.11
$10.00
$12.22
$20.00
$24.45
$50.00
$61.12
$100
$122
$500
$611
$1,000
$1,222
$5,000
$6,112
$10,000
$12,225
$100,000
$122,249
$1,000,000
$1,222,495
Inflation by spending category, 2003–2011
Between 2003 and 2011, energy rose the most, up 78.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 1.0%, against 22.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2003
spending costs in 2011, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2003 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.54%
$122
Energy
7.53%
$179
Transportation
3.80%
$135
Medical care
3.80%
$135
Food
2.99%
$127
Education & communication
2.28%
$120
Housing
2.15%
$119
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.92%
$116
Recreation
0.67%
$105
Apparel
0.12%
$101
Decade by decade: 2003 to 2011
Prices climbed fastest in the 2010s, averaging 3.16% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.46% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2003–2011 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2003, at end
2003–2010
2.46%
18.5%
$119
2010–2011
3.16%
3.2%
$122
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2003
$100 from 2003 had already become $113 by
2007, on its way to $122 in 2011; 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 2011, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 2003 had the buying
power of $122; the year's average CPI of 224.939 is the level
behind every 2011 figure on this page.
2011 brought the fastest inflation of the post-recession recovery. Consumer
prices rose 3.2%, roughly double the 2010 pace, and the cause was mostly at the
pump and the grocery store. Unrest across the Middle East and North Africa,
including the war in Libya, pushed gasoline to an annual average of $3.52 a
gallon, the highest yearly figure recorded to that point. Food prices also
rose faster than the overall index.
Household budgets did not keep up. The median household income was $50,054,
barely above the year before, and the median new home sold for about $227,200.
The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and a first-class stamp at 44 cents.
Policy stayed loose. The Federal Reserve kept its policy rate near zero and
launched Operation Twist in September to lower long-term rates. Washington
spent the summer in a debt-ceiling fight that ended in S&P’s August downgrade
of the U.S. credit rating. The inflation spike proved temporary: the
2011 rate was the high point of the early 2010s, and prices grew more slowly
in every year that followed until 2017.
MLA: “Inflation from 2003 to 2011: $100 is worth $122 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2003-to-2011/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2003 to 2011. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2003-to-2011/