What is $100 in 1990 worth in 1991?

$100 in 1990 has the purchasing power of about $104 in 1991, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U).

What was the average inflation rate between 1990 and 1991?

Prices rose 4.2% in total between 1990 and 1991, an average of 4.21% per year.

How much is $1 in 1990 worth today?

$1 in 1990 is equivalent to about $1.04 in 1991. Equivalently, a 1991 dollar buys what $0.96 bought in 1990.

U.S. inflation · 1990–1991

Value of $100 in 1990, adjusted to 1991

Amount From year To year

$100 in 1990 has the same buying power as

$104

in 1991

Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change	4.2%
Average inflation rate	4.21% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)	$104
Price difference ($100 base)	$4.21
CPI in 1990	130.7
CPI in 1991	136.2
Inflation in 1990	5.40%
Inflation in 1991	4.21%
$100 in 1990 → 1991	$104
$100 in 1991 → 1990	$95.96

What happened to prices between 1990 and 1991

Between 1990 and 1991, the Consumer Price Index went from 130.7 to 136.2. Cumulatively, prices increased 4.2%, which works out to an average of 4.21% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1990 bought what $0.96 buys in 1991.

In 1990, the median U.S. household earned about $29,900, gas averaged $1.15 a gallon, and mailing a letter cost a quarter. Inflation ran hot at 5.4% for the year, its highest rate since 1982, pushed up by an oil shock after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, and the economy tipped into recession that summer. It was the last gasp of elevated inflation before the long calm of the 1990s.

More about inflation in 1990 →

Common amounts: 1990 dollars in 1991

Amount in 1990	Value in 1991
$1.00	$1.04
$5.00	$5.21
$10.00	$10.42
$20.00	$20.84
$50.00	$52.10
$100	$104
$500	$521
$1,000	$1,042
$5,000	$5,210
$10,000	$10,421
$100,000	$104,208
$1,000,000	$1,042,081

Inflation by spending category, 1990–1991

The headline number is an average. Individual categories moved very differently over this period. Here is what $100 of 1990 spending costs in 1991, by category:

Category	Avg. yearly inflation	$100 in 1990 →
All items (CPI-U)	4.21%	$104
Medical care	8.72%	$109
Core (all items less food & energy)	4.87%	$105
Housing	3.97%	$104
Apparel	3.71%	$104
Food	2.95%	$103
Transportation	2.74%	$103
Energy	0.39%	$100

Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1990: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).

Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1990

Year	CPI	Inflation rate	$100 from 1990
1990	130.7	5.4%	$100
1991	136.2	4.2%	$104

Cite this page

MLA: “Inflation from 1990 to 1991: $100 is worth $104 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-1991/

APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1990 to 1991. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-1991/

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.