$100 in 2010 is worth $124 in 2021,
because prices increased 24.3% over that period, an average of
1.99% a year.
$100 in 2010 has
the same buying power as
$124
in 2021
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
24.3%
Average inflation rate
1.99% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$124
Price difference ($100 base)
$24.27
CPI in 2010
218.056
CPI in 2021
270.97
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
Inflation in 2021
4.70%
$100 in 2010 → 2021
$124
$100 in 2021 → 2010
$80.47
What happened to prices between 2010 and 2021
Between 2010 and 2021, the Consumer Price Index went from 218.056 to 270.97.
Cumulatively, prices increased 24.3%, which works out to an average of
1.99% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2010 bought what
$0.80 buys in 2021: the 2010 dollar
lost 19.5% of its purchasing power over
these 11 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 2021 at the same ratio, 1.24: $1,000 becomes
$1,243, and $10,000 becomes $12,427.
Amount in 2010
Value in 2021
$1.00
$1.24
$5.00
$6.21
$10.00
$12.43
$20.00
$24.85
$50.00
$62.13
$100
$124
$500
$621
$1,000
$1,243
$5,000
$6,213
$10,000
$12,427
$100,000
$124,266
$1,000,000
$1,242,662
Inflation by spending category, 2010–2021
Between 2010 and 2021, medical care rose the most, up 35.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 1.2%, against 24.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2010
spending costs in 2021, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2010 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.99%
$124
Medical care
2.78%
$135
Housing
2.40%
$130
Food
2.16%
$126
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.07%
$125
Transportation
1.61%
$119
Energy
1.09%
$113
Recreation
0.91%
$110
Education & communication
0.85%
$110
Apparel
0.11%
$101
Decade by decade: 2010 to 2021
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 4.70% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2010–2021 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2010, at end
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$119
2020–2021
4.70%
4.7%
$124
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2010
$100 from 2010 had already become $109 by
2015, on its way to $124 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 the smallest rise was 0.1% in 2015.
In 2021, prices rose 4.7% and $100 from 2010 had the buying
power of $124; 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 2010 to 2021: $100 is worth $124 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2010-to-2021/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2010 to 2021. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2010-to-2021/