$100 in 1993 is worth $166 in 2016,
because prices increased 66.1% over that period, an average of
2.23% a year.
$100 in 1993 has
the same buying power as
$166
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
66.1%
Average inflation rate
2.23% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$166
Price difference ($100 base)
$66.09
CPI in 1993
144.5
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1993
2.99%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1993 → 2016
$166
$100 in 2016 → 1993
$60.21
What happened to prices between 1993 and 2016
Between 1993 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 144.5 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 66.1%, which works out to an average of
2.23% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1993 bought what
$0.60 buys in 2016: the 1993 dollar
lost 39.8% of its purchasing power over
these 23 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 2016 at the same ratio, 1.66: $1,000 becomes
$1,661, and $10,000 becomes $16,609.
Amount in 1993
Value in 2016
$1.00
$1.66
$5.00
$8.30
$10.00
$16.61
$20.00
$33.22
$50.00
$83.05
$100
$166
$500
$830
$1,000
$1,661
$5,000
$8,305
$10,000
$16,609
$100,000
$166,095
$1,000,000
$1,660,948
Inflation by spending category, 1993–2016
Between 1993 and 2016, medical care rose the most, up 130.2%, while apparel fell 5.7%, against 66.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1993
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1993 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.23%
$166
Medical care
3.69%
$230
Energy
2.64%
$182
Food
2.49%
$176
Housing
2.41%
$173
Education & communication
2.14%
$163
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.14%
$163
Transportation
1.76%
$149
Recreation
1.11%
$129
Apparel
-0.26%
$94.27
Decade by decade: 1993 to 2016
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.54% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1993–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$166
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1993
$100 from 1993 had already become $131 by
2004, on its way to $166 in 2016; 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 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1993 had the buying
power of $166; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1993 to 2016: $100 is worth $166 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1993-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1993 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1993-to-2016/