$100 in 1991 is worth $174 in 2015,
because prices increased 74.0% over that period, an average of
2.34% a year.
$100 in 1991 has
the same buying power as
$174
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
74.0%
Average inflation rate
2.34% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$174
Price difference ($100 base)
$74.02
CPI in 1991
136.2
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 1991 → 2015
$174
$100 in 2015 → 1991
$57.46
What happened to prices between 1991 and 2015
Between 1991 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 136.2 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 74.0%, which works out to an average of
2.34% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1991 bought what
$0.57 buys in 2015: the 1991 dollar
lost 42.5% of its purchasing power over
these 24 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 2015 at the same ratio, 1.74: $1,000 becomes
$1,740, and $10,000 becomes $17,402.
Amount in 1991
Value in 2015
$1.00
$1.74
$5.00
$8.70
$10.00
$17.40
$20.00
$34.80
$50.00
$87.01
$100
$174
$500
$870
$1,000
$1,740
$5,000
$8,701
$10,000
$17,402
$100,000
$174,021
$1,000,000
$1,740,213
Inflation by spending category, 1991–2015
Between 1991 and 2015, medical care rose the most, up 152.4%, while apparel fell 2.2%, against 74.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1991
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1991 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.34%
$174
Medical care
3.93%
$252
Energy
2.89%
$198
Food
2.51%
$181
Housing
2.44%
$178
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.25%
$170
Transportation
2.00%
$161
Apparel
-0.09%
$97.83
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1991: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1991 to 2015
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.64% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.68% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1991–2015 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
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$174
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1991
$100 from 1991 had already become $135 by
2003, on its way to $174 in 2015; 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 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 1991 had the buying
power of $174; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 1991 to 2015: $100 is worth $174 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1991 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2015/