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Value of 1988 US Dollars today

$5,000 in 1988
$13,153.56 in 2024

The inflation rate in the United States between 1988 and today has been 163.07%, which translates into a total increase of $8,153.56. This means that 5,000 dollars in 1988 are equivalent to 13,153.56 dollars in 2024. In other words, the purchasing power of $5,000 in 1988 equals $13,153.56 today. The average annual inflation rate between these periods has been 2.72%.

Inflation timeline in the United States (1988 - 2024)

The following chart depicts the equivalence of $5,000 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 163.07%
Avg. Annual inflation 1988-2023 2.74%
CPI 1988 49.89
CPI 2023 128.56
CPI 2024-02 (latest official data) 130.93
CPI today 131.26

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
=$ 5,000 ×
128.56/49.89
$12,882.89

To obtain the equivalent value today (present value), plug in the CPI for today, which is estimated as 131.26:

Valuetoday
=Value1988 ×
CPItoday/CPI1988
=$ 5,000 ×
131.26/49.89
$13,153.56

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 $5,000 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
=$5,000 × (1 + 0.027411)35
$12,882.89

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 $12,882.89 dollars in 2023
$10,000 dollars in 1988 $25,765.77 dollars in 2023
$50,000 dollars in 1988 $128,828.86 dollars in 2023
$100,000 dollars in 1988 $257,657.72 dollars in 2023
$500,000 dollars in 1988 $1,288,288.58 dollars in 2023
$1,000,000 dollars in 1988 $2,576,577.15 dollars in 2023
Cumulative inflation From 1988 163.07%
Avg. annual inflation From 1988 2.72%
CPI 1988 49.89
CPI today 131.26

Value of Dollar over time (by year)

Period Value
1988 5,000
1989 5,241.35
1990 5,524.28
1991 5,758.23
1992 5,932.63
1993 6,107.74
1994 6,267
1995 6,442.82
1996 6,631.67
1997 6,786.7
1998 6,892.05
1999 7,042.84
2000 7,280.67
2001 7,486.43
2002 7,605.17
2003 7,777.82
2004 7,986.05
2005 8,256.99
2006 8,523.36
2007 8,766.5
2008 9,103.06
2009 9,070.69
2010 9,219.46
2011 9,510.5
2012 9,707.3
2013 9,849.5
2014 10,009.28
2015 10,021.15
2016 10,147.58
2017 10,363.74
2018 10,616.87
2019 10,809.28
2020 10,942.62
2021 11,456.69
2022 12,373.54
2023 12,882.89
2024-02 13,120.69
Today 13,153.56

All available years

Today's value of US dollars by year:

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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