$100 in 1991 is worth $160 in 2010,
because prices increased 60.1% over that period, an average of
2.51% a year.
$100 in 1991 has
the same buying power as
$160
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
60.1%
Average inflation rate
2.51% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$160
Price difference ($100 base)
$60.10
CPI in 1991
136.2
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 1991 → 2010
$160
$100 in 2010 → 1991
$62.46
What happened to prices between 1991 and 2010
Between 1991 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 136.2 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 60.1%, which works out to an average of
2.51% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1991 bought what
$0.62 buys in 2010: the 1991 dollar
lost 37.5% of its purchasing power over
these 19 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 2010 at the same ratio, 1.60: $1,000 becomes
$1,601, and $10,000 becomes $16,010.
Amount in 1991
Value in 2010
$1.00
$1.60
$5.00
$8.00
$10.00
$16.01
$20.00
$32.02
$50.00
$80.05
$100
$160
$500
$800
$1,000
$1,601
$5,000
$8,005
$10,000
$16,010
$100,000
$160,100
$1,000,000
$1,600,999
Inflation by spending category, 1991–2010
Between 1991 and 2010, medical care rose the most, up 119.5%, while apparel fell 7.1%, against 60.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1991
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1991 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.51%
$160
Medical care
4.22%
$219
Energy
3.88%
$206
Housing
2.57%
$162
Food
2.54%
$161
Transportation
2.38%
$156
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.36%
$156
Apparel
-0.39%
$92.85
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1991: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1991 to 2010
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.64% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.39% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1991–2010 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1991, at end
1991–2000
2.64%
26.4%
$126
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$160
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1991
$100 from 1991 had already become $126 by
2000, on its way to $160 in 2010; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.8% in 2008, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1991 had the buying
power of $160; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 1991 to 2010: $100 is worth $160 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1991 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2010/