$100 in 1991 is worth $236 in 2025,
because prices increased 136.4% over that period, an average of
2.56% a year.
$100 in 1991 has
the same buying power as
$236
in 2025
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
136.4%
Average inflation rate
2.56% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$236
Price difference ($100 base)
$136
CPI in 1991
136.2
CPI in 2025
321.943
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
Inflation in 2025
2.63%
$100 in 1991 → 2025
$236
$100 in 2025 → 1991
$42.31
What happened to prices between 1991 and 2025
Between 1991 and 2025, the Consumer Price Index went from 136.2 to 321.943.
Cumulatively, prices increased 136.4%, which works out to an average of
2.56% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1991 bought what
$0.42 buys in 2025: the 1991 dollar
lost 57.7% of its purchasing power over
these 34 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 2025 at the same ratio, 2.36: $1,000 becomes
$2,364, and $10,000 becomes $23,638.
Amount in 1991
Value in 2025
$1.00
$2.36
$5.00
$11.82
$10.00
$23.64
$20.00
$47.28
$50.00
$118
$100
$236
$500
$1,182
$1,000
$2,364
$5,000
$11,819
$10,000
$23,638
$100,000
$236,375
$1,000,000
$2,363,752
Inflation by spending category, 1991–2025
Between 1991 and 2025, medical care rose the most, up 227.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 2.0%, against 136.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1991
spending costs in 2025, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1991 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.56%
$236
Medical care
3.55%
$328
Energy
2.99%
$273
Housing
2.84%
$259
Food
2.72%
$249
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.49%
$231
Transportation
2.34%
$220
Apparel
0.06%
$102
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1991: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1991 to 2025
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 4.46% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1991–2025 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$190
2020–2025
4.46%
24.4%
$236
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1991
$100 from 1991 had already become $152 by
2007, on its way to $236 in 2025; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 8.0% in 2022, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2025
In 2025, prices rose 2.6% and $100 from 1991 had the buying
power of $236; the year's average CPI of 321.943 is the level
behind every 2025 figure on this page.
2025 was a year of trade policy and data disruptions rather than an
inflation surge. Consumer prices rose 2.6% on average, a step down from
2024’s 2.9% and well below the 8.0% of 2022. Tariffs announced in April
pushed up prices for some imported goods, including furniture, apparel, and
auto parts, but the effect on the overall index was smaller than many
forecasters feared at the start of the year, in part because retailers
absorbed some of the cost and demand for services stayed steady.
The Federal Reserve held its policy rate steady through the first half of the
year, then began cutting again in September, lowering it in three quarter-point
steps to 3.50–3.75% by December.
The federal government shutdown that began October 1 lasted 43 days, and the
Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish a CPI for October 2025 because the
survey data could not be collected. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 78 cents in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1991 to 2025: $100 is worth $236 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2025/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1991 to 2025. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-2025/