$100 in 2010 is worth $109 in 2015,
because prices increased 8.7% over that period, an average of
1.68% a year.
$100 in 2010 has
the same buying power as
$109
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
8.7%
Average inflation rate
1.68% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$109
Price difference ($100 base)
$8.70
CPI in 2010
218.056
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 2010 → 2015
$109
$100 in 2015 → 2010
$92.00
What happened to prices between 2010 and 2015
Between 2010 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 218.056 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 8.7%, which works out to an average of
1.68% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2010 bought what
$0.92 buys in 2015: the 2010 dollar
lost 8.0% of its purchasing power over
these 5 years.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
Every 2010 amount converts to 2015 at the same ratio, 1.09: $1,000 becomes
$1,087, and $10,000 becomes $10,870.
Amount in 2010
Value in 2015
$1.00
$1.09
$5.00
$5.43
$10.00
$10.87
$20.00
$21.74
$50.00
$54.35
$100
$109
$500
$543
$1,000
$1,087
$5,000
$5,435
$10,000
$10,870
$100,000
$108,695
$1,000,000
$1,086,955
Inflation by spending category, 2010–2015
Between 2010 and 2015, medical care rose the most, up 15.0%, while energy fell 4.0%, against 8.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2010
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2010 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.68%
$109
Medical care
2.84%
$115
Food
2.40%
$113
Housing
1.94%
$110
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.82%
$109
Education & communication
1.24%
$106
Apparel
1.05%
$105
Transportation
0.58%
$103
Recreation
0.46%
$102
Energy
-0.82%
$95.95
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2010
$100 from 2010 had already become $105 by
2012, on its way to $109 in 2015; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.2% in 2011, and the smallest rise was 0.1% in 2015.
In 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 2010 had the buying
power of $109; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 2010 to 2015: $100 is worth $109 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2010-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2010 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2010-to-2015/