$100 in 2010 is worth $117 in 2019,
because prices increased 17.2% over that period, an average of
1.78% a year.
$100 in 2010 has
the same buying power as
$117
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
17.2%
Average inflation rate
1.78% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$117
Price difference ($100 base)
$17.24
CPI in 2010
218.056
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 2010 → 2019
$117
$100 in 2019 → 2010
$85.29
What happened to prices between 2010 and 2019
Between 2010 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 218.056 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 17.2%, which works out to an average of
1.78% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2010 bought what
$0.85 buys in 2019: the 2010 dollar
lost 14.7% of its purchasing power over
these 9 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 2019 at the same ratio, 1.17: $1,000 becomes
$1,172, and $10,000 becomes $11,724.
Amount in 2010
Value in 2019
$1.00
$1.17
$5.00
$5.86
$10.00
$11.72
$20.00
$23.45
$50.00
$58.62
$100
$117
$500
$586
$1,000
$1,172
$5,000
$5,862
$10,000
$11,724
$100,000
$117,244
$1,000,000
$1,172,437
Inflation by spending category, 2010–2019
Between 2010 and 2019, medical care rose the most, up 28.3%, while energy rose the least, up 1.8%, against 17.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2010
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2010 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.78%
$117
Medical care
2.81%
$128
Housing
2.32%
$123
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.94%
$119
Food
1.82%
$118
Transportation
0.92%
$109
Recreation
0.70%
$106
Education & communication
0.66%
$106
Apparel
0.42%
$104
Energy
0.20%
$102
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2010
$100 from 2010 had already become $109 by
2014, on its way to $117 in 2019; 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 2019, prices rose 1.8% and $100 from 2010 had the buying
power of $117; the year's average CPI of 255.657 is the level
behind every 2019 figure on this page.
2019 was the last ordinary year before COVID-19. Consumer prices rose 1.8%,
slightly under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with gasoline averaging
$2.60 a gallon. Median household income jumped to $68,703, the highest on
record up to that point, and the median new home sold for about $328,000. A
first-class stamp rose to 55 cents.
The Fed reversed course. After four increases in 2018, it cut rates three
times, to 1.50–1.75%, citing slower global growth, trade tensions, and low
inflation. In July the expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in
U.S. records, and in August the yield curve briefly inverted, a signal
investors read as a recession warning.
For workers at the bottom of the pay scale, 2019 marked a milestone of a
different kind. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and reached its tenth
year without an increase, the longest gap since the wage was first set. Because
prices had climbed about 19% since it was last raised in 2009, its buying power
was lower than at any point in that span.
MLA: “Inflation from 2010 to 2019: $100 is worth $117 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2010-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2010 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2010-to-2019/