$100 in 1990 is worth $117 in 1995,
because prices increased 16.6% over that period, an average of
3.12% a year.
$100 in 1990 has
the same buying power as
$117
in 1995
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
16.6%
Average inflation rate
3.12% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$117
Price difference ($100 base)
$16.60
CPI in 1990
130.7
CPI in 1995
152.4
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
$100 in 1990 → 1995
$117
$100 in 1995 → 1990
$85.76
What happened to prices between 1990 and 1995
Between 1990 and 1995, the Consumer Price Index went from 130.7 to 152.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 16.6%, which works out to an average of
3.12% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1990 bought what
$0.86 buys in 1995: the 1990 dollar
lost 14.2% of its purchasing power over
these 5 years.
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.
Every 1990 amount converts to 1995 at the same ratio, 1.17: $1,000 becomes
$1,166, and $10,000 becomes $11,660.
Amount in 1990
Value in 1995
$1.00
$1.17
$5.00
$5.83
$10.00
$11.66
$20.00
$23.32
$50.00
$58.30
$100
$117
$500
$583
$1,000
$1,166
$5,000
$5,830
$10,000
$11,660
$100,000
$116,603
$1,000,000
$1,166,029
Inflation by spending category, 1990–1995
Between 1990 and 1995, medical care rose the most, up 35.4%, while energy rose the least, up 3.0%, against 16.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1990
spending costs in 1995, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1990 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.12%
$117
Medical care
6.26%
$135
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.53%
$119
Housing
2.94%
$116
Transportation
2.91%
$115
Food
2.31%
$112
Apparel
1.24%
$106
Energy
0.60%
$103
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
$100 from 1990 had already become $107 by
1992, on its way to $117 in 1995; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 4.2% in 1991, and the smallest rise was 2.6% in 1994.
In 1995, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1990 had the buying
power of $117; the year's average CPI of 152.4 is the level
behind every 1995 figure on this page.
In 1995, gas averaged $1.15 a gallon, a new home cost roughly $133,900, and the median household
earned about $34,100. Inflation ran at 2.8% for the year, little changed from 1994, as the
Federal Reserve shifted from raising rates to cutting them. Having lifted its policy rate six
times the year before, the Fed judged by July that the economy had cooled enough on its own, and
trimmed rates instead, an outcome economists would later point to as a rare soft landing. The
year opened with a currency crisis: Mexico’s peso lost roughly half its value against the dollar
in a matter of weeks, and the U.S. Treasury and the IMF assembled a $50 billion rescue package,
controversial in Congress, to stabilize it and keep the crisis from spreading to other emerging
markets. Closer to home, a budget standoff between President Clinton and the Republican Congress
shut down federal agencies twice, first for five days in November and then for 21 days spanning
December into January 1996, the longest shutdown up to that point. The Postal Service raised the
cost of a first-class stamp to 32 cents in January. Low, steady inflation was about the only calm
part of 1995’s economic story.
MLA: “Inflation from 1990 to 1995: $100 is worth $117 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-1995/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1990 to 1995. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-1995/