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Value of 1988 US Dollars today

$100 in 1988
$266.85 in 2024

The inflation rate in the United States between 1988 and today has been 166.85%, which translates into a total increase of $166.85. This means that 100 dollars in 1988 are equivalent to 266.85 dollars in 2024. In other words, the purchasing power of $100 in 1988 equals $266.85 today. The average annual inflation rate between these periods has been 2.76%.

Inflation timeline in the United States (1988 - 2024)

The following chart depicts the equivalence of $100 due to compound inflation and CPI changes. All values are equivalent in terms of purchasing power, which means that for each year the same goods or services could be bought with the indicated amount of money.

All calculations are performed in the local currency (USD) and using 6 decimal digits. Results show only up to 2 decimal digits to favour readability. Inflation data is provided by governments and international institutions on a monthly basis. Today's values were extrapolated from the latest 12-month rolling average official data.

The following table contains relevant indicators:

Indicator Value
Cumulative inflation 1988-2023 157.66%
Cumulative inflation 1988-today 166.85%
Avg. Annual inflation 1988-2023 2.74%
CPI 1988 118.26
CPI 2023 304.7
CPI 2024-09 (latest official data) 315.3
CPI today 315.58

How to calculate today's value of money after inflation?

There are several ways to calculate the time value of money. Depending on the data available, results can be obtained by using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) formula or the compound interest formula.

Using the CPI formula

When we have both the start and end years, we can use the following formula:

Valuet =Value0 ×
CPIt/CPI0

To obtain the values equivalent in buying power between 1988 and 2023, use the corresponding CPI values:

Value2023
=Value1988 ×
CPI2023/CPI1988
=$ 100 ×
304.7/118.26
$257.66

To obtain the equivalent value today (present value), plug in the CPI for today, which is estimated as 315.58:

Valuetoday
=Value1988 ×
CPItoday/CPI1988
=$ 100 ×
315.58/118.26
$266.85

Alternative: Using the compound interest formula

Given that money changes with time as a result of an inflation rate that acts as compound interest, we can use the following formula: FV = PV × (1 + i)n, where:

  • FV: Future Value
  • PV: Present Value
  • i: Interest rate (inflation)
  • n: Number of times the interest is compounded (i.e. # of years)

In this case, the future value represents the final amount obtained after applying the inflation rate to our initial value. In other words, it indicates how much are $100 worth today. There are 35 years between 1988 and 2023 and the average inflation rate was 2.7411%. Therefore, we can resolve the formula like this:

Value2023
=PV × (1 + i)n
=$100 × (1 + 0.027411)35
$257.66

US inflation - Conversion table

Initial Value Equivalent value
$1 dollar in 1988 $2.58 dollars in 2023
$5 dollars in 1988 $12.88 dollars in 2023
$10 dollars in 1988 $25.77 dollars in 2023
$50 dollars in 1988 $128.83 dollars in 2023
$100 dollars in 1988 $257.66 dollars in 2023
$500 dollars in 1988 $1,288.29 dollars in 2023
$1,000 dollars in 1988 $2,576.58 dollars in 2023
$5,000 dollars in 1988 $12,882.88 dollars in 2023
$10,000 dollars in 1988 $25,765.76 dollars in 2023
$50,000 dollars in 1988 $128,828.8 dollars in 2023
$100,000 dollars in 1988 $257,657.6 dollars in 2023
$500,000 dollars in 1988 $1,288,288 dollars in 2023
$1,000,000 dollars in 1988 $2,576,576 dollars in 2023
Cumulative inflation From 1988 166.85%
Avg. annual inflation From 1988 2.76%
CPI 1988 118.26
CPI today 315.58

Value of Dollar over time (by year)

Period Value
1988 100
1989 104.83
1990 110.49
1991 115.16
1992 118.65
1993 122.15
1994 125.34
1995 128.86
1996 132.63
1997 135.73
1998 137.84
1999 140.86
2000 145.61
2001 149.73
2002 152.1
2003 155.56
2004 159.72
2005 165.14
2006 170.47
2007 175.33
2008 182.06
2009 181.41
2010 184.39
2011 190.21
2012 194.15
2013 196.99
2014 200.19
2015 200.42
2016 202.95
2017 207.27
2018 212.34
2019 216.19
2020 218.85
2021 229.13
2022 247.47
2023 257.66
2024-09 266.62
Today 266.85

All available years

Today's value of US dollars by year:

1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |

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