$100 in 2015 is worth $103 in 2017,
because prices increased 3.4% over that period, an average of
1.70% a year.
$100 in 2015 has
the same buying power as
$103
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
3.4%
Average inflation rate
1.70% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$103
Price difference ($100 base)
$3.42
CPI in 2015
237.017
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 2015 → 2017
$103
$100 in 2017 → 2015
$96.69
What happened to prices between 2015 and 2017
Between 2015 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 237.017 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 3.4%, which works out to an average of
1.70% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2015 bought what
$0.97 buys in 2017: the 2015 dollar
lost 3.3% of its purchasing power over
these 2 years.
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.
Every 2015 amount converts to 2017 at the same ratio, 1.03: $1,000 becomes
$1,034, and $10,000 becomes $10,342.
Amount in 2015
Value in 2017
$1.00
$1.03
$5.00
$5.17
$10.00
$10.34
$20.00
$20.68
$50.00
$51.71
$100
$103
$500
$517
$1,000
$1,034
$5,000
$5,171
$10,000
$10,342
$100,000
$103,419
$1,000,000
$1,034,187
Inflation by spending category, 2015–2017
Between 2015 and 2017, medical care rose the most, up 6.4%, while education & communication fell 1.2%, against 3.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2015
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2015 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.70%
$103
Medical care
3.15%
$106
Housing
2.73%
$106
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.03%
$104
Recreation
1.10%
$102
Transportation
0.63%
$101
Food
0.57%
$101
Energy
0.40%
$101
Apparel
-0.12%
$99.77
Education & communication
-0.62%
$98.77
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2015
$100 from 2015 had already become $101 by
2016, on its way to $103 in 2017; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 2.1% in 2017, and the smallest rise was 1.3% in 2016.
In 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 2015 had the buying
power of $103; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 2015 to 2017: $100 is worth $103 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2015-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2015 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2015-to-2017/