Value of a dollar · 1988
Value of a Dollar in 1988
$1 in 1988 had the same buying power as $2.65 in 2024. Prices rose 165% over those 36 years, an average of 2.75% a year.
- $100 from 1988 $265 in 2024 dollars
- Prices since +165% 2.65× the 1988 level
- Average inflation 2.75% a year, 1988–2024
- $100 in 2024 $37.70 in 1988 dollars
1988 dollars in 2024 money
| In 1988 | Worth in 2024 |
|---|---|
| $1 | $2.65 |
| $10 | $26.53 |
| $100 | $265 |
| $1,000 | $2,653 |
| $10,000 | $26,528 |
For a specific amount or a different pair of years, use the inflation calculator.
How $100 from 1988 kept pace
The amount needed in each later year to buy what $100 bought in 1988:
Prices had doubled by 2014, 26 years after 1988. The steepest single year along the way was 2022, when inflation reached 8.00%. Read what happened in 2022.
Borrowing in 1988
A 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 10.34% in 1988, against 6.76% this week. See every year on historical mortgage rates.
Value of a dollar in 1988 — FAQ
How much is $1 from 1988 worth today?
$1 in 1988 buys about as much as $2.65 did in 2024, the latest full year of Consumer Price Index data. $100 from 1988 equals about $265.
How much have prices gone up since 1988?
Consumer prices rose about 165% from 1988 to 2024, so things cost about 2.65 times as much. That works out to an average of 2.75% a year.
What would $100 in 2024 have been worth in 1988?
$100 in 2024 had the buying power of about $37.70 in 1988.
When did prices double after 1988?
By 2014, 26 years later, the price level was more than twice what it was in 1988, so a dollar saved in 1988 bought less than half as much.
Based on annual average Consumer Price Index levels. 2024 is the latest full year in the data, so “today” on this page means 2024 dollars.
Data: World Bank, World Development Indicators, via APIVerve. Our tables, charts and text are licensed CC BY-NC 4.0: share and adapt them for non-commercial use as long as you credit us. For commercial use or bulk data, use the APIVerve API. See the data terms. Cite as: Digest Your Finances, “Value of a Dollar by Year”, https://digestyourfinances.com/studies/value-of-a-dollar/1988/ — based on World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY-NC 4.0.
