$100 in 2003 is worth $147 in 2021,
because prices increased 47.3% over that period, an average of
2.17% a year.
$100 in 2003 has
the same buying power as
$147
in 2021
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
47.3%
Average inflation rate
2.17% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$147
Price difference ($100 base)
$47.27
CPI in 2003
184
CPI in 2021
270.97
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
Inflation in 2021
4.70%
$100 in 2003 → 2021
$147
$100 in 2021 → 2003
$67.90
What happened to prices between 2003 and 2021
Between 2003 and 2021, the Consumer Price Index went from 184 to 270.97.
Cumulatively, prices increased 47.3%, which works out to an average of
2.17% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2003 bought what
$0.68 buys in 2021: the 2003 dollar
lost 32.1% of its purchasing power over
these 18 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 2021 at the same ratio, 1.47: $1,000 becomes
$1,473, and $10,000 becomes $14,727.
Amount in 2003
Value in 2021
$1.00
$1.47
$5.00
$7.36
$10.00
$14.73
$20.00
$29.45
$50.00
$73.63
$100
$147
$500
$736
$1,000
$1,473
$5,000
$7,363
$10,000
$14,727
$100,000
$147,266
$1,000,000
$1,472,663
Inflation by spending category, 2003–2021
Between 2003 and 2021, medical care rose the most, up 76.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 0.1%, against 47.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2003
spending costs in 2021, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2003 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.17%
$147
Medical care
3.22%
$177
Energy
3.14%
$175
Food
2.44%
$154
Housing
2.35%
$152
Transportation
2.14%
$146
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.03%
$144
Education & communication
1.46%
$130
Recreation
0.85%
$116
Apparel
0.00%
$100
Decade by decade: 2003 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 2003–2021 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2003, at end
2003–2010
2.46%
18.5%
$119
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$141
2020–2021
4.70%
4.7%
$147
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2003
$100 from 2003 had already become $125 by
2012, on its way to $147 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 2003 had the buying
power of $147; 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 2003 to 2021: $100 is worth $147 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2003-to-2021/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2003 to 2021. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2003-to-2021/