$100 in 1990 is worth $184 in 2016,
because prices increased 83.6% over that period, an average of
2.37% a year.
$100 in 1990 has
the same buying power as
$184
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
83.6%
Average inflation rate
2.37% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$184
Price difference ($100 base)
$83.63
CPI in 1990
130.7
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1990 → 2016
$184
$100 in 2016 → 1990
$54.46
What happened to prices between 1990 and 2016
Between 1990 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 130.7 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 83.6%, which works out to an average of
2.37% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1990 bought what
$0.54 buys in 2016: the 1990 dollar
lost 45.5% of its purchasing power over
these 26 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 2016 at the same ratio, 1.84: $1,000 becomes
$1,836, and $10,000 becomes $18,363.
Amount in 1990
Value in 2016
$1.00
$1.84
$5.00
$9.18
$10.00
$18.36
$20.00
$36.73
$50.00
$91.82
$100
$184
$500
$918
$1,000
$1,836
$5,000
$9,182
$10,000
$18,363
$100,000
$183,632
$1,000,000
$1,836,320
Inflation by spending category, 1990–2016
Between 1990 and 2016, medical care rose the most, up 184.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 1.6%, against 83.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1990
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1990 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.37%
$184
Medical care
4.11%
$285
Housing
2.50%
$190
Food
2.44%
$187
Energy
2.41%
$186
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.35%
$183
Transportation
1.87%
$162
Apparel
0.06%
$102
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1990: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1990 to 2016
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.80% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1990–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$184
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1990
$100 from 1990 had already become $141 by
2003, on its way to $184 in 2016; 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 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1990 had the buying
power of $184; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1990 to 2016: $100 is worth $184 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1990 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2016/