$100 in 1990 is worth $154 in 2006,
because prices increased 54.2% over that period, an average of
2.75% a year.
$100 in 1990 has
the same buying power as
$154
in 2006
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
54.2%
Average inflation rate
2.75% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$154
Price difference ($100 base)
$54.25
CPI in 1990
130.7
CPI in 2006
201.6
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
Inflation in 2006
3.23%
$100 in 1990 → 2006
$154
$100 in 2006 → 1990
$64.83
What happened to prices between 1990 and 2006
Between 1990 and 2006, the Consumer Price Index went from 130.7 to 201.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 54.2%, which works out to an average of
2.75% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1990 bought what
$0.65 buys in 2006: the 1990 dollar
lost 35.2% of its purchasing power over
these 16 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 2006 at the same ratio, 1.54: $1,000 becomes
$1,542, and $10,000 becomes $15,425.
Amount in 1990
Value in 2006
$1.00
$1.54
$5.00
$7.71
$10.00
$15.42
$20.00
$30.85
$50.00
$77.12
$100
$154
$500
$771
$1,000
$1,542
$5,000
$7,712
$10,000
$15,425
$100,000
$154,246
$1,000,000
$1,542,464
Inflation by spending category, 1990–2006
Between 1990 and 2006, medical care rose the most, up 106.5%, while apparel fell 3.7%, against 54.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1990
spending costs in 2006, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1990 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.75%
$154
Medical care
4.64%
$207
Energy
4.19%
$193
Housing
2.91%
$158
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.65%
$152
Transportation
2.57%
$150
Food
2.46%
$147
Apparel
-0.24%
$96.29
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1990: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1990 to 2006
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.80% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.66% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1990–2006 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1990, at end
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$132
2000–2006
2.66%
17.1%
$154
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1990
$100 from 1990 had already become $125 by
1998, on its way to $154 in 2006; 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 2006, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 1990 had the buying
power of $154; the year's average CPI of 201.6 is the level
behind every 2006 figure on this page.
Inflation was 3.2% in 2006 and gasoline averaged $2.59 a gallon, up 29 cents from 2005. The
median household earned about $48,200 and the median new home cost $246,500, a gain of about
2% after a 13% jump in 2004 and 9% in 2005. National home prices, by the S&P/Case-Shiller
index, peaked in mid-2006. Ben Bernanke replaced Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chair on
February 1, and on June 29 the Fed raised its policy rate to 5.25%, the last of 17 straight
quarter-point increases. It held there for over a year. A first-class stamp rose to 39 cents in
January, and the federal minimum wage was $5.15 for the ninth full year in a row.
MLA: “Inflation from 1990 to 2006: $100 is worth $154 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2006/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1990 to 2006. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2006/