$100 in 1991 is worth $112 in 1995,
because prices increased 11.9% over that period, an average of
2.85% a year.
$100 in 1991 has
the same buying power as
$112
in 1995
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
11.9%
Average inflation rate
2.85% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$112
Price difference ($100 base)
$11.89
CPI in 1991
136.2
CPI in 1995
152.4
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
$100 in 1991 → 1995
$112
$100 in 1995 → 1991
$89.37
What happened to prices between 1991 and 1995
Between 1991 and 1995, the Consumer Price Index went from 136.2 to 152.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 11.9%, which works out to an average of
2.85% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1991 bought what
$0.89 buys in 1995: the 1991 dollar
lost 10.6% of its purchasing power over
these 4 years.
1991 opened in recession and closed in a slow, uneven recovery. The median household earned
about $30,100 for the year, gas averaged $1.14 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $120,000.
Inflation ran at 4.2% for the year, down from 1990’s oil-driven spike, as the Gulf War ended in
February and crude oil retreated from its autumn highs. The recession itself, dated by the
National Bureau of Economic Research from July 1990 to March 1991, was technically over by
spring, but hiring stayed weak well into 1992, the stretch economists came to call the jobless
recovery. The Federal Reserve kept cutting interest rates through the year to support growth,
reversing the tightening campaign it had run through the late 1980s. In April the federal
minimum wage rose to $4.25 an hour, the second step of an increase from the $3.35 rate that had
held since 1981. The Postal Service had already raised the cost of a first-class stamp to 29
cents that February. It was the first full year of the decade without an oil shock driving
prices, even if the job market took longer to follow.
Every 1991 amount converts to 1995 at the same ratio, 1.12: $1,000 becomes
$1,119, and $10,000 becomes $11,189.
Amount in 1991
Value in 1995
$1.00
$1.12
$5.00
$5.59
$10.00
$11.19
$20.00
$22.38
$50.00
$55.95
$100
$112
$500
$559
$1,000
$1,119
$5,000
$5,595
$10,000
$11,189
$100,000
$111,894
$1,000,000
$1,118,943
Inflation by spending category, 1991–1995
Between 1991 and 1995, medical care rose the most, up 24.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 2.6%, against 11.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1991
spending costs in 1995, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1991 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.85%
$112
Medical care
5.65%
$125
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.20%
$113
Transportation
2.96%
$112
Housing
2.68%
$111
Food
2.15%
$109
Energy
0.65%
$103
Apparel
0.63%
$103
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1991: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1991
$100 from 1991 had already become $106 by
1993, on its way to $112 in 1995; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.0% in 1992, and the smallest rise was 2.6% in 1994.
In 1995, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1991 had the buying
power of $112; the year's average CPI of 152.4 is the level
behind every 1995 figure on this page.
In 1995, gas averaged $1.15 a gallon, a new home cost roughly $133,900, and the median household
earned about $34,100. Inflation ran at 2.8% for the year, little changed from 1994, as the
Federal Reserve shifted from raising rates to cutting them. Having lifted its policy rate six
times the year before, the Fed judged by July that the economy had cooled enough on its own, and
trimmed rates instead, an outcome economists would later point to as a rare soft landing. The
year opened with a currency crisis: Mexico’s peso lost roughly half its value against the dollar
in a matter of weeks, and the U.S. Treasury and the IMF assembled a $50 billion rescue package,
controversial in Congress, to stabilize it and keep the crisis from spreading to other emerging
markets. Closer to home, a budget standoff between President Clinton and the Republican Congress
shut down federal agencies twice, first for five days in November and then for 21 days spanning
December into January 1996, the longest shutdown up to that point. The Postal Service raised the
cost of a first-class stamp to 32 cents in January. Low, steady inflation was about the only calm
part of 1995’s economic story.
MLA: “Inflation from 1991 to 1995: $100 is worth $112 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-1995/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1991 to 1995. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-1995/