$100 in 2015 is worth $106 in 2018,
because prices increased 5.9% over that period, an average of
1.94% a year.
$100 in 2015 has
the same buying power as
$106
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
5.9%
Average inflation rate
1.94% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$106
Price difference ($100 base)
$5.94
CPI in 2015
237.017
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 2015 → 2018
$106
$100 in 2018 → 2015
$94.39
What happened to prices between 2015 and 2018
Between 2015 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 237.017 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 5.9%, which works out to an average of
1.94% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2015 bought what
$0.94 buys in 2018: the 2015 dollar
lost 5.6% of its purchasing power over
these 3 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 2018 at the same ratio, 1.06: $1,000 becomes
$1,059, and $10,000 becomes $10,594.
Amount in 2015
Value in 2018
$1.00
$1.06
$5.00
$5.30
$10.00
$10.59
$20.00
$21.19
$50.00
$52.97
$100
$106
$500
$530
$1,000
$1,059
$5,000
$5,297
$10,000
$10,594
$100,000
$105,945
$1,000,000
$1,059,447
Inflation by spending category, 2015–2018
Between 2015 and 2018, housing rose the most, up 8.6%, while education & communication fell 1.0%, against 5.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2015
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2015 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.94%
$106
Housing
2.78%
$109
Medical care
2.76%
$108
Energy
2.73%
$108
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.06%
$106
Transportation
1.91%
$106
Recreation
0.90%
$103
Food
0.85%
$103
Apparel
-0.07%
$99.80
Education & communication
-0.34%
$98.97
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2015
$100 from 2015 had already become $101 by
2016, on its way to $106 in 2018; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 2.4% in 2018, and the smallest rise was 1.3% in 2016.
In 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 2015 had the buying
power of $106; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 2015 to 2018: $100 is worth $106 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2015-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2015 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2015-to-2018/