$100 in 1990 is worth $132 in 2000,
because prices increased 31.8% over that period, an average of
2.80% a year.
$100 in 1990 has
the same buying power as
$132
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
31.8%
Average inflation rate
2.80% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$132
Price difference ($100 base)
$31.75
CPI in 1990
130.7
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1990 → 2000
$132
$100 in 2000 → 1990
$75.90
What happened to prices between 1990 and 2000
Between 1990 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 130.7 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 31.8%, which works out to an average of
2.80% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1990 bought what
$0.76 buys in 2000: the 1990 dollar
lost 24.1% of its purchasing power over
these 10 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 2000 at the same ratio, 1.32: $1,000 becomes
$1,318, and $10,000 becomes $13,175.
Amount in 1990
Value in 2000
$1.00
$1.32
$5.00
$6.59
$10.00
$13.18
$20.00
$26.35
$50.00
$65.88
$100
$132
$500
$659
$1,000
$1,318
$5,000
$6,588
$10,000
$13,175
$100,000
$131,752
$1,000,000
$1,317,521
Inflation by spending category, 1990–2000
Between 1990 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 60.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 4.4%, against 31.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1990
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1990 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.80%
$132
Medical care
4.83%
$160
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.95%
$134
Housing
2.81%
$132
Transportation
2.44%
$127
Food
2.40%
$127
Energy
2.01%
$122
Apparel
0.43%
$104
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 $117 by
1995, on its way to $132 in 2000; 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 1.6% in 1998.
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1990 had the buying
power of $132; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1990 to 2000: $100 is worth $132 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1990 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2000/