$100 in 2004 is worth $130 in 2017,
because prices increased 29.8% over that period, an average of
2.02% a year.
$100 in 2004 has
the same buying power as
$130
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
29.8%
Average inflation rate
2.02% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$130
Price difference ($100 base)
$29.76
CPI in 2004
188.9
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 2004
2.66%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 2004 → 2017
$130
$100 in 2017 → 2004
$77.06
What happened to prices between 2004 and 2017
Between 2004 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 188.9 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 29.8%, which works out to an average of
2.02% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2004 bought what
$0.77 buys in 2017: the 2004 dollar
lost 22.9% of its purchasing power over
these 13 years.
Consumer prices rose 2.7% in 2004, with a 29-cent jump in the price of gasoline, to $1.88 a
gallon, doing much of the work. Crude oil passed $50 a barrel in October on rising demand
from China and India. The Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time in four years on
June 30, to 1.25%, and it kept going: 17 consecutive quarter-point increases took the rate to
5.25% by June 2006. Housing was already running ahead of incomes. The median household earned
about $44,300, up 2.3% from 2003, while the median new home sold for $221,000, up about 13%. A
first-class stamp stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15, unchanged since
1997.
Every 2004 amount converts to 2017 at the same ratio, 1.30: $1,000 becomes
$1,298, and $10,000 becomes $12,976.
Amount in 2004
Value in 2017
$1.00
$1.30
$5.00
$6.49
$10.00
$12.98
$20.00
$25.95
$50.00
$64.88
$100
$130
$500
$649
$1,000
$1,298
$5,000
$6,488
$10,000
$12,976
$100,000
$129,762
$1,000,000
$1,297,618
Inflation by spending category, 2004–2017
Between 2004 and 2017, medical care rose the most, up 53.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 4.3%, against 29.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2004
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2004 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.02%
$130
Medical care
3.34%
$153
Energy
2.34%
$135
Food
2.29%
$134
Housing
2.19%
$133
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.93%
$128
Transportation
1.64%
$124
Education & communication
1.56%
$122
Recreation
0.67%
$109
Apparel
0.33%
$104
Decade by decade: 2004 to 2017
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.42% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2004–2017 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2004, at end
2004–2010
2.42%
15.4%
$115
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$130
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2004
$100 from 2004 had already become $115 by
2010, on its way to $130 in 2017; 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 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 2004 had the buying
power of $130; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 2004 to 2017: $100 is worth $130 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2004-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2004 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2004-to-2017/