$100 in 1991 is worth $180 in 2017,
because prices increased 80.0% over that period, an average of
2.29% a year.
$100 in 1991 has
the same buying power as
$180
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
80.0%
Average inflation rate
2.29% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$180
Price difference ($100 base)
$79.97
CPI in 1991
136.2
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 1991 → 2017
$180
$100 in 2017 → 1991
$55.56
What happened to prices between 1991 and 2017
Between 1991 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 136.2 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 80.0%, which works out to an average of
2.29% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1991 bought what
$0.56 buys in 2017: the 1991 dollar
lost 44.4% of its purchasing power over
these 26 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 2017 at the same ratio, 1.80: $1,000 becomes
$1,800, and $10,000 becomes $17,997.
Amount in 1991
Value in 2017
$1.00
$1.80
$5.00
$9.00
$10.00
$18.00
$20.00
$35.99
$50.00
$89.99
$100
$180
$500
$900
$1,000
$1,800
$5,000
$8,999
$10,000
$17,997
$100,000
$179,971
$1,000,000
$1,799,706
Inflation by spending category, 1991–2017
Between 1991 and 2017, medical care rose the most, up 168.5%, while apparel fell 2.4%, against 80.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1991
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1991 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.29%
$180
Medical care
3.87%
$269
Energy
2.69%
$200
Housing
2.46%
$188
Food
2.36%
$183
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.23%
$177
Transportation
1.89%
$163
Apparel
-0.09%
$97.60
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1991: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1991 to 2017
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.64% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1991–2017 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
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$180
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1991
$100 from 1991 had already become $139 by
2004, on its way to $180 in 2017; 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 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1991 had the buying
power of $180; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1991 to 2017: $100 is worth $180 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1991 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2017/