$100 in 1993 is worth $161 in 2013,
because prices increased 61.2% over that period, an average of
2.42% a year.
$100 in 1993 has
the same buying power as
$161
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
61.2%
Average inflation rate
2.42% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$161
Price difference ($100 base)
$61.22
CPI in 1993
144.5
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1993
2.99%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1993 → 2013
$161
$100 in 2013 → 1993
$62.03
What happened to prices between 1993 and 2013
Between 1993 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 144.5 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 61.2%, which works out to an average of
2.42% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1993 bought what
$0.62 buys in 2013: the 1993 dollar
lost 38.0% of its purchasing power over
these 20 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 2013 at the same ratio, 1.61: $1,000 becomes
$1,612, and $10,000 becomes $16,122.
Amount in 1993
Value in 2013
$1.00
$1.61
$5.00
$8.06
$10.00
$16.12
$20.00
$32.24
$50.00
$80.61
$100
$161
$500
$806
$1,000
$1,612
$5,000
$8,061
$10,000
$16,122
$100,000
$161,216
$1,000,000
$1,612,159
Inflation by spending category, 1993–2013
Between 1993 and 2013, energy rose the most, up 134.6%, while apparel fell 4.7%, against 61.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1993
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1993 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.42%
$161
Energy
4.35%
$235
Medical care
3.81%
$211
Food
2.63%
$168
Transportation
2.59%
$167
Housing
2.41%
$161
Education & communication
2.34%
$159
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.17%
$154
Recreation
1.21%
$127
Apparel
-0.24%
$95.30
Decade by decade: 1993 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.54% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1993–2013 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1993, at end
1993–2000
2.54%
19.2%
$119
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$151
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$161
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1993
$100 from 1993 had already become $127 by
2003, on its way to $161 in 2013; 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 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1993 had the buying
power of $161; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1993 to 2013: $100 is worth $161 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1993-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1993 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1993-to-2013/