$100 in 2007 is worth $131 in 2021,
because prices increased 30.7% over that period, an average of
1.93% a year.
$100 in 2007 has
the same buying power as
$131
in 2021
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
30.7%
Average inflation rate
1.93% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$131
Price difference ($100 base)
$30.69
CPI in 2007
207.342
CPI in 2021
270.97
Inflation in 2007
2.85%
Inflation in 2021
4.70%
$100 in 2007 → 2021
$131
$100 in 2021 → 2007
$76.52
What happened to prices between 2007 and 2021
Between 2007 and 2021, the Consumer Price Index went from 207.342 to 270.97.
Cumulatively, prices increased 30.7%, which works out to an average of
1.93% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2007 bought what
$0.77 buys in 2021: the 2007 dollar
lost 23.5% of its purchasing power over
these 14 years.
Inflation was 2.8% in 2007, with gasoline averaging $2.80 a gallon, but the year is better
known for what began underneath prices. In August, French bank BNP Paribas froze funds tied to
U.S. subprime mortgages, and credit between banks tightened. The Federal Reserve responded with
a half-point cut on September 18, its first in four years, and took the policy rate from 5.25% to
4.25% by December. The economy peaked that month, by the National Bureau of Economic Research’s
dating, and the Great Recession followed. The median household earned about $50,200, and the
median new home cost $247,900. Congress ended the decade-long freeze on the federal minimum wage
in May, with the first of three steps to $5.85 in July. A first-class stamp cost 41 cents.
Every 2007 amount converts to 2021 at the same ratio, 1.31: $1,000 becomes
$1,307, and $10,000 becomes $13,069.
Amount in 2007
Value in 2021
$1.00
$1.31
$5.00
$6.53
$10.00
$13.07
$20.00
$26.14
$50.00
$65.34
$100
$131
$500
$653
$1,000
$1,307
$5,000
$6,534
$10,000
$13,069
$100,000
$130,687
$1,000,000
$1,306,875
Inflation by spending category, 2007–2021
Between 2007 and 2021, medical care rose the most, up 49.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 1.7%, against 30.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2007
spending costs in 2021, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2007 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.93%
$131
Medical care
2.92%
$150
Food
2.27%
$137
Housing
2.11%
$134
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.98%
$132
Transportation
1.60%
$125
Education & communication
1.27%
$119
Energy
0.99%
$115
Recreation
0.83%
$112
Apparel
0.12%
$102
Decade by decade: 2007 to 2021
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 4.70% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (1.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2007–2021 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2007, at end
2007–2010
1.69%
5.2%
$105
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$125
2020–2021
4.70%
4.7%
$131
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2007
$100 from 2007 had already become $114 by
2014, on its way to $131 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 2007 had the buying
power of $131; 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 2007 to 2021: $100 is worth $131 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2007-to-2021/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2007 to 2021. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2007-to-2021/