$100 in 1991 is worth $148 in 2006,
because prices increased 48.0% over that period, an average of
2.65% a year.
$100 in 1991 has
the same buying power as
$148
in 2006
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
48.0%
Average inflation rate
2.65% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$148
Price difference ($100 base)
$48.02
CPI in 1991
136.2
CPI in 2006
201.6
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
Inflation in 2006
3.23%
$100 in 1991 → 2006
$148
$100 in 2006 → 1991
$67.56
What happened to prices between 1991 and 2006
Between 1991 and 2006, the Consumer Price Index went from 136.2 to 201.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 48.0%, which works out to an average of
2.65% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1991 bought what
$0.68 buys in 2006: the 1991 dollar
lost 32.4% of its purchasing power over
these 15 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 2006 at the same ratio, 1.48: $1,000 becomes
$1,480, and $10,000 becomes $14,802.
Amount in 1991
Value in 2006
$1.00
$1.48
$5.00
$7.40
$10.00
$14.80
$20.00
$29.60
$50.00
$74.01
$100
$148
$500
$740
$1,000
$1,480
$5,000
$7,401
$10,000
$14,802
$100,000
$148,018
$1,000,000
$1,480,176
Inflation by spending category, 1991–2006
Between 1991 and 2006, energy rose the most, up 92.1%, while apparel fell 7.1%, against 48.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1991
spending costs in 2006, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1991 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.65%
$148
Energy
4.45%
$192
Medical care
4.37%
$190
Housing
2.84%
$152
Transportation
2.56%
$146
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.50%
$145
Food
2.42%
$143
Apparel
-0.49%
$92.85
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1991: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1991 to 2006
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.66% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.64% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1991–2006 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1991, at end
1991–2000
2.64%
26.4%
$126
2000–2006
2.66%
17.1%
$148
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1991
$100 from 1991 had already become $120 by
1998, on its way to $148 in 2006; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.4% in 2005, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2006, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 1991 had the buying
power of $148; the year's average CPI of 201.6 is the level
behind every 2006 figure on this page.
Inflation was 3.2% in 2006 and gasoline averaged $2.59 a gallon, up 29 cents from 2005. The
median household earned about $48,200 and the median new home cost $246,500, a gain of about
2% after a 13% jump in 2004 and 9% in 2005. National home prices, by the S&P/Case-Shiller
index, peaked in mid-2006. Ben Bernanke replaced Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chair on
February 1, and on June 29 the Fed raised its policy rate to 5.25%, the last of 17 straight
quarter-point increases. It held there for over a year. A first-class stamp rose to 39 cents in
January, and the federal minimum wage was $5.15 for the ninth full year in a row.
MLA: “Inflation from 1991 to 2006: $100 is worth $148 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2006/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1991 to 2006. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2006/