$100 in 1991 is worth $115 in 1996,
because prices increased 15.2% over that period, an average of
2.87% a year.
$100 in 1991 has
the same buying power as
$115
in 1996
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
15.2%
Average inflation rate
2.87% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$115
Price difference ($100 base)
$15.20
CPI in 1991
136.2
CPI in 1996
156.9
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
$100 in 1991 → 1996
$115
$100 in 1996 → 1991
$86.81
What happened to prices between 1991 and 1996
Between 1991 and 1996, the Consumer Price Index went from 136.2 to 156.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 15.2%, which works out to an average of
2.87% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1991 bought what
$0.87 buys in 1996: the 1991 dollar
lost 13.2% of its purchasing power over
these 5 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 1996 at the same ratio, 1.15: $1,000 becomes
$1,152, and $10,000 becomes $11,520.
Amount in 1991
Value in 1996
$1.00
$1.15
$5.00
$5.76
$10.00
$11.52
$20.00
$23.04
$50.00
$57.60
$100
$115
$500
$576
$1,000
$1,152
$5,000
$5,760
$10,000
$11,520
$100,000
$115,198
$1,000,000
$1,151,982
Inflation by spending category, 1991–1996
Between 1991 and 1996, medical care rose the most, up 28.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 2.3%, against 15.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1991
spending costs in 1996, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1991 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.87%
$115
Medical care
5.21%
$129
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.11%
$117
Transportation
2.93%
$116
Housing
2.72%
$114
Food
2.38%
$112
Energy
1.44%
$107
Apparel
0.46%
$102
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 $115 in 1996; 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 1996, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1991 had the buying
power of $115; the year's average CPI of 156.9 is the level
behind every 1996 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $35,500 in 1996, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, up noticeably
from the mid-decade lull, and a new home cost roughly $140,000. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the
year, ticking back up from 1995 as energy prices firmed. Washington passed two of the decade’s
more consequential laws that year: in February, the Telecommunications Act rewrote the rules for
phone, cable, and broadcast media for the first time since 1934, opening local markets to
competition and easing ownership limits; in August, a welfare overhaul ended the federal
guarantee of cash assistance, replacing it with block grants to states and time limits on
benefits. In October, the federal minimum wage rose to $4.75 an hour, its first increase in five
years and the opening step of a two-part law that would take it to $5.15 the following
September. Two sweeping new laws and a minimum wage finally on the move again made 1996 a year
that changed more about how the economy was governed than about how fast prices moved.
MLA: “Inflation from 1991 to 1996: $100 is worth $115 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-1996/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1991 to 1996. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-1996/