$100 in 1993 is worth $111 in 1997,
because prices increased 11.1% over that period, an average of
2.66% a year.
$100 in 1993 has
the same buying power as
$111
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
11.1%
Average inflation rate
2.66% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$111
Price difference ($100 base)
$11.07
CPI in 1993
144.5
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1993
2.99%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1993 → 1997
$111
$100 in 1997 → 1993
$90.03
What happened to prices between 1993 and 1997
Between 1993 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 144.5 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 11.1%, which works out to an average of
2.66% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1993 bought what
$0.90 buys in 1997: the 1993 dollar
lost 10.0% of its purchasing power over
these 4 years.
By 1993, the median household earned about $31,200, gas averaged $1.11 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $126,500. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the year, holding close to where it had settled
the year before as the recovery slowly gathered strength. Washington spent much of the year on
two pieces of unfinished business from the recession: a deficit-reduction package, the Omnibus
Budget Reconciliation Act, that raised the top income tax rate to 39.6% to start narrowing a
budget gap left over from the 1980s, and a trade deal, the North American Free Trade Agreement,
that President Clinton signed into law in December after a contentious fight in Congress. NAFTA
phased out most tariffs between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada and took effect the following
January. The year’s other defining event had nothing to do with the economy: in February, a bomb
exploded in the World Trade Center’s parking garage, killing six people and injuring more than a
thousand. By year’s end, the pieces of the decade’s later economic story, freer trade, a
shrinking deficit, and inflation holding near 3%, were already in place.
Every 1993 amount converts to 1997 at the same ratio, 1.11: $1,000 becomes
$1,111, and $10,000 becomes $11,107.
Amount in 1993
Value in 1997
$1.00
$1.11
$5.00
$5.55
$10.00
$11.11
$20.00
$22.21
$50.00
$55.54
$100
$111
$500
$555
$1,000
$1,111
$5,000
$5,554
$10,000
$11,107
$100,000
$111,073
$1,000,000
$1,110,727
Inflation by spending category, 1993–1997
Between 1993 and 1997, medical care rose the most, up 16.5%, while apparel fell 0.6%, against 11.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1993
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1993 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.66%
$111
Medical care
3.89%
$116
Education & communication
3.58%
$115
Food
2.79%
$112
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.73%
$111
Housing
2.65%
$111
Transportation
2.56%
$111
Recreation
2.37%
$110
Energy
1.71%
$107
Apparel
-0.15%
$99.40
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1993
$100 from 1993 had already become $105 by
1995, on its way to $111 in 1997; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.0% in 1996, and the smallest rise was 2.3% in 1997.
In 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1993 had the buying
power of $111; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1993 to 1997: $100 is worth $111 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1993-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1993 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1993-to-1997/