$100 in 1990 is worth $181 in 2015,
because prices increased 81.3% over that period, an average of
2.41% a year.
$100 in 1990 has
the same buying power as
$181
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
81.3%
Average inflation rate
2.41% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$181
Price difference ($100 base)
$81.34
CPI in 1990
130.7
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 1990 → 2015
$181
$100 in 2015 → 1990
$55.14
What happened to prices between 1990 and 2015
Between 1990 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 130.7 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 81.3%, which works out to an average of
2.41% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1990 bought what
$0.55 buys in 2015: the 1990 dollar
lost 44.9% of its purchasing power over
these 25 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 2015 at the same ratio, 1.81: $1,000 becomes
$1,813, and $10,000 becomes $18,134.
Amount in 1990
Value in 2015
$1.00
$1.81
$5.00
$9.07
$10.00
$18.13
$20.00
$36.27
$50.00
$90.67
$100
$181
$500
$907
$1,000
$1,813
$5,000
$9,067
$10,000
$18,134
$100,000
$181,344
$1,000,000
$1,813,443
Inflation by spending category, 1990–2015
Between 1990 and 2015, medical care rose the most, up 174.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 1.5%, against 81.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1990
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1990 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.41%
$181
Medical care
4.12%
$274
Energy
2.79%
$199
Food
2.53%
$187
Housing
2.50%
$185
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.35%
$179
Transportation
2.03%
$165
Apparel
0.06%
$101
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1990: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1990 to 2015
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.80% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.68% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1990–2015 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
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$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 2015; 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 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 1990 had the buying
power of $181; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 1990 to 2015: $100 is worth $181 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1990 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2015/