$100 in 2004 is worth $133 in 2018,
because prices increased 32.9% over that period, an average of
2.05% a year.
$100 in 2004 has
the same buying power as
$133
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
32.9%
Average inflation rate
2.05% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$133
Price difference ($100 base)
$32.93
CPI in 2004
188.9
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 2004
2.66%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 2004 → 2018
$133
$100 in 2018 → 2004
$75.23
What happened to prices between 2004 and 2018
Between 2004 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 188.9 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 32.9%, which works out to an average of
2.05% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2004 bought what
$0.75 buys in 2018: the 2004 dollar
lost 24.8% of its purchasing power over
these 14 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 2018 at the same ratio, 1.33: $1,000 becomes
$1,329, and $10,000 becomes $13,293.
Amount in 2004
Value in 2018
$1.00
$1.33
$5.00
$6.65
$10.00
$13.29
$20.00
$26.59
$50.00
$66.47
$100
$133
$500
$665
$1,000
$1,329
$5,000
$6,647
$10,000
$13,293
$100,000
$132,931
$1,000,000
$1,329,312
Inflation by spending category, 2004–2018
Between 2004 and 2018, medical care rose the most, up 56.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 4.4%, against 32.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2004
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2004 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.05%
$133
Medical care
3.24%
$156
Energy
2.70%
$145
Housing
2.24%
$136
Food
2.23%
$136
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.95%
$131
Transportation
1.84%
$129
Education & communication
1.46%
$123
Recreation
0.66%
$110
Apparel
0.31%
$104
Decade by decade: 2004 to 2018
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.42% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2004–2018 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2004, at end
2004–2010
2.42%
15.4%
$115
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$133
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2004
$100 from 2004 had already become $119 by
2011, on its way to $133 in 2018; 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 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 2004 had the buying
power of $133; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 2004 to 2018: $100 is worth $133 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2004-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2004 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2004-to-2018/