$100 in 1990 is worth $120 in 1996,
because prices increased 20.0% over that period, an average of
3.09% a year.
$100 in 1990 has
the same buying power as
$120
in 1996
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
20.0%
Average inflation rate
3.09% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$120
Price difference ($100 base)
$20.05
CPI in 1990
130.7
CPI in 1996
156.9
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
$100 in 1990 → 1996
$120
$100 in 1996 → 1990
$83.30
What happened to prices between 1990 and 1996
Between 1990 and 1996, the Consumer Price Index went from 130.7 to 156.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 20.0%, which works out to an average of
3.09% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1990 bought what
$0.83 buys in 1996: the 1990 dollar
lost 16.7% of its purchasing power over
these 6 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 1996 at the same ratio, 1.20: $1,000 becomes
$1,200, and $10,000 becomes $12,005.
Amount in 1990
Value in 1996
$1.00
$1.20
$5.00
$6.00
$10.00
$12.00
$20.00
$24.01
$50.00
$60.02
$100
$120
$500
$600
$1,000
$1,200
$5,000
$6,002
$10,000
$12,005
$100,000
$120,046
$1,000,000
$1,200,459
Inflation by spending category, 1990–1996
Between 1990 and 1996, medical care rose the most, up 40.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 6.1%, against 20.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1990
spending costs in 1996, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1990 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.09%
$120
Medical care
5.79%
$140
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.40%
$122
Housing
2.93%
$119
Transportation
2.89%
$119
Food
2.47%
$116
Energy
1.27%
$108
Apparel
1.00%
$106
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 $111 by
1993, on its way to $120 in 1996; 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 1996, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1990 had the buying
power of $120; the year's average CPI of 156.9 is the level
behind every 1996 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $35,500 in 1996, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, up noticeably
from the mid-decade lull, and a new home cost roughly $140,000. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the
year, ticking back up from 1995 as energy prices firmed. Washington passed two of the decade’s
more consequential laws that year: in February, the Telecommunications Act rewrote the rules for
phone, cable, and broadcast media for the first time since 1934, opening local markets to
competition and easing ownership limits; in August, a welfare overhaul ended the federal
guarantee of cash assistance, replacing it with block grants to states and time limits on
benefits. In October, the federal minimum wage rose to $4.75 an hour, its first increase in five
years and the opening step of a two-part law that would take it to $5.15 the following
September. Two sweeping new laws and a minimum wage finally on the move again made 1996 a year
that changed more about how the economy was governed than about how fast prices moved.
MLA: “Inflation from 1990 to 1996: $100 is worth $120 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-1996/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1990 to 1996. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-1996/