$100 in 1991 is worth $118 in 1997,
because prices increased 17.8% over that period, an average of
2.77% a year.
$100 in 1991 has
the same buying power as
$118
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
17.8%
Average inflation rate
2.77% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$118
Price difference ($100 base)
$17.84
CPI in 1991
136.2
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1991 → 1997
$118
$100 in 1997 → 1991
$84.86
What happened to prices between 1991 and 1997
Between 1991 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 136.2 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 17.8%, which works out to an average of
2.77% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1991 bought what
$0.85 buys in 1997: the 1991 dollar
lost 15.1% of its purchasing power over
these 6 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 1997 at the same ratio, 1.18: $1,000 becomes
$1,178, and $10,000 becomes $11,784.
Amount in 1991
Value in 1997
$1.00
$1.18
$5.00
$5.89
$10.00
$11.78
$20.00
$23.57
$50.00
$58.92
$100
$118
$500
$589
$1,000
$1,178
$5,000
$5,892
$10,000
$11,784
$100,000
$117,841
$1,000,000
$1,178,414
Inflation by spending category, 1991–1997
Between 1991 and 1997, medical care rose the most, up 32.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 3.3%, against 17.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1991
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1991 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.77%
$118
Medical care
4.81%
$133
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.98%
$119
Housing
2.70%
$117
Transportation
2.59%
$117
Food
2.42%
$115
Energy
1.41%
$109
Apparel
0.54%
$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 $109 by
1994, on its way to $118 in 1997; 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 2.3% in 1997.
In 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1991 had the buying
power of $118; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1991 to 1997: $100 is worth $118 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1991 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-1997/