$100 in 1990 is worth $181 in 2014,
because prices increased 81.1% over that period, an average of
2.51% a year.
$100 in 1990 has
the same buying power as
$181
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
81.1%
Average inflation rate
2.51% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$181
Price difference ($100 base)
$81.13
CPI in 1990
130.7
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1990 → 2014
$181
$100 in 2014 → 1990
$55.21
What happened to prices between 1990 and 2014
Between 1990 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 130.7 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 81.1%, which works out to an average of
2.51% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1990 bought what
$0.55 buys in 2014: the 1990 dollar
lost 44.8% of its purchasing power over
these 24 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 2014 at the same ratio, 1.81: $1,000 becomes
$1,811, and $10,000 becomes $18,113.
Amount in 1990
Value in 2014
$1.00
$1.81
$5.00
$9.06
$10.00
$18.11
$20.00
$36.23
$50.00
$90.56
$100
$181
$500
$906
$1,000
$1,811
$5,000
$9,056
$10,000
$18,113
$100,000
$181,129
$1,000,000
$1,811,293
Inflation by spending category, 1990–2014
Between 1990 and 2014, medical care rose the most, up 167.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 2.8%, against 81.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1990
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1990 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.51%
$181
Medical care
4.18%
$267
Energy
3.69%
$239
Food
2.56%
$183
Housing
2.51%
$181
Transportation
2.46%
$179
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.37%
$176
Apparel
0.11%
$103
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1990: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1990 to 2014
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.80% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1990–2014 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1990, at end
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$132
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$167
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$181
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1990
$100 from 1990 had already become $138 by
2002, on its way to $181 in 2014; 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 prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1990 had the buying
power of $181; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1990 to 2014: $100 is worth $181 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1990 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2014/