U.S. inflation · 2015–2020
$100 in 2015 has the same buying power as
$109
in 2020
| Cumulative price change | 9.2% |
|---|---|
| Average inflation rate | 1.77% per year |
| Converted amount ($100 base) | $109 |
| Price difference ($100 base) | $9.20 |
| CPI in 2015 | 237.017 |
| CPI in 2020 | 258.811 |
| Inflation in 2015 | 0.12% |
| Inflation in 2020 | 1.23% |
| $100 in 2015 → 2020 | $109 |
| $100 in 2020 → 2015 | $91.58 |
Between 2015 and 2020, the Consumer Price Index went from 237.017 to 258.811. Cumulatively, prices increased 9.2%, which works out to an average of 1.77% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2015 bought what $0.92 buys in 2020.
| Amount in 2015 | Value in 2020 |
|---|---|
| $1.00 | $1.09 |
| $5.00 | $5.46 |
| $10.00 | $10.92 |
| $20.00 | $21.84 |
| $50.00 | $54.60 |
| $100 | $109 |
| $500 | $546 |
| $1,000 | $1,092 |
| $5,000 | $5,460 |
| $10,000 | $10,920 |
| $100,000 | $109,195 |
| $1,000,000 | $1,091,951 |
The headline number is an average. Individual categories moved very differently over this period. Here is what $100 of 2015 spending costs in 2020, by category:
| Category | Avg. yearly inflation | $100 in 2015 → |
|---|---|---|
| All items (CPI-U) | 1.77% | $109 |
| Medical care | 3.04% | $116 |
| Housing | 2.68% | $114 |
| Core (all items less food & energy) | 2.02% | $111 |
| Food | 1.57% | $108 |
| Recreation | 1.06% | $105 |
| Education & communication | 0.30% | $102 |
| Transportation | 0.23% | $101 |
| Energy | -0.59% | $97.07 |
| Apparel | -1.27% | $93.79 |
| Year | CPI | Inflation rate | $100 from 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 237.017 | 0.1% | $100 |
| 2016 | 240.007 | 1.3% | $101 |
| 2017 | 245.12 | 2.1% | $103 |
| 2018 | 251.107 | 2.4% | $106 |
| 2019 | 255.657 | 1.8% | $108 |
| 2020 | 258.811 | 1.2% | $109 |
2020 was the year the pandemic rewired the price data without triggering the inflation spike that followed it. Consumer prices rose just 1.2% for the year, the mildest pace since 2015, as COVID-19 lockdowns emptied roads, closed airports, and crushed energy demand. Oil told the starkest story: on April 20, U.S. crude futures fell to about negative $37 a barrel, the first negative settlement in the market’s history, as storage capacity ran out and no one wanted the physical barrels. Gasoline followed it down, falling to about $1.80 a gallon nationally that month before recovering to average $2.17 for the year. Grocery prices moved the other way: pantry stocking and meatpacking-plant disruptions pushed food-at-home costs up faster than usual, a rare case of food and energy pulling the index in opposite directions. Washington answered with the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, signed March 27, which sent $1,200 payments to most adults and added $600 a week to unemployment benefits as states ordered widespread business closures. The Federal Reserve cut its policy rate to near zero in two emergency moves that same month and pledged to buy Treasury and mortgage bonds “in the amounts needed” to keep credit markets working, an open-ended commitment beyond even its 2008 response. None of it showed up in the CPI yet: the stimulus, the supply shocks, and the reopening whiplash that followed would build into the fastest inflation in four decades over the next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 2015 to 2020: $100 is worth $109 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2015-to-2020/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2015 to 2020. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2015-to-2020/
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages (series CUUR0000SA0; category indexes listed on the data sources page). See how these numbers are calculated.