$100 in 1991 is worth $184 in 2018,
because prices increased 84.4% over that period, an average of
2.29% a year.
$100 in 1991 has
the same buying power as
$184
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
84.4%
Average inflation rate
2.29% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$184
Price difference ($100 base)
$84.37
CPI in 1991
136.2
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 1991 → 2018
$184
$100 in 2018 → 1991
$54.24
What happened to prices between 1991 and 2018
Between 1991 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 136.2 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 84.4%, which works out to an average of
2.29% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1991 bought what
$0.54 buys in 2018: the 1991 dollar
lost 45.8% of its purchasing power over
these 27 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 2018 at the same ratio, 1.84: $1,000 becomes
$1,844, and $10,000 becomes $18,437.
Amount in 1991
Value in 2018
$1.00
$1.84
$5.00
$9.22
$10.00
$18.44
$20.00
$36.87
$50.00
$92.18
$100
$184
$500
$922
$1,000
$1,844
$5,000
$9,218
$10,000
$18,437
$100,000
$184,366
$1,000,000
$1,843,664
Inflation by spending category, 1991–2018
Between 1991 and 2018, medical care rose the most, up 173.8%, while apparel fell 2.4%, against 84.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1991
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1991 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.29%
$184
Medical care
3.80%
$274
Energy
2.87%
$215
Housing
2.47%
$193
Food
2.33%
$186
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.23%
$181
Transportation
1.99%
$170
Apparel
-0.09%
$97.63
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1991: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1991 to 2018
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.64% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1991–2018 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
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$184
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1991
$100 from 1991 had already become $139 by
2004, on its way to $184 in 2018; 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 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 1991 had the buying
power of $184; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1991 to 2018: $100 is worth $184 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1991 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2018/