$100 in 1990 is worth $188 in 2017,
because prices increased 87.5% over that period, an average of
2.36% a year.
$100 in 1990 has
the same buying power as
$188
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
87.5%
Average inflation rate
2.36% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$188
Price difference ($100 base)
$87.54
CPI in 1990
130.7
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 1990 → 2017
$188
$100 in 2017 → 1990
$53.32
What happened to prices between 1990 and 2017
Between 1990 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 130.7 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 87.5%, which works out to an average of
2.36% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1990 bought what
$0.53 buys in 2017: the 1990 dollar
lost 46.7% of its purchasing power over
these 27 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 2017 at the same ratio, 1.88: $1,000 becomes
$1,875, and $10,000 becomes $18,754.
Amount in 1990
Value in 2017
$1.00
$1.88
$5.00
$9.38
$10.00
$18.75
$20.00
$37.51
$50.00
$93.77
$100
$188
$500
$938
$1,000
$1,875
$5,000
$9,377
$10,000
$18,754
$100,000
$187,544
$1,000,000
$1,875,440
Inflation by spending category, 1990–2017
Between 1990 and 2017, medical care rose the most, up 192.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 1.2%, against 87.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1990
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1990 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.36%
$188
Medical care
4.05%
$292
Energy
2.61%
$200
Housing
2.51%
$196
Food
2.38%
$189
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.33%
$186
Transportation
1.92%
$167
Apparel
0.04%
$101
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1990: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1990 to 2017
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.80% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1990–2017 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
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$188
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1990
$100 from 1990 had already become $141 by
2003, on its way to $188 in 2017; 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 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1990 had the buying
power of $188; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1990 to 2017: $100 is worth $188 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1990 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-2017/