$100 in 1994 is worth $106 in 1996,
because prices increased 5.9% over that period, an average of
2.89% a year.
$100 in 1994 has
the same buying power as
$106
in 1996
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
5.9%
Average inflation rate
2.89% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$106
Price difference ($100 base)
$5.87
CPI in 1994
148.2
CPI in 1996
156.9
Inflation in 1994
2.56%
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
$100 in 1994 → 1996
$106
$100 in 1996 → 1994
$94.46
What happened to prices between 1994 and 1996
Between 1994 and 1996, the Consumer Price Index went from 148.2 to 156.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 5.9%, which works out to an average of
2.89% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1994 bought what
$0.94 buys in 1996: the 1994 dollar
lost 5.5% of its purchasing power over
these 2 years.
Gas averaged $1.11 a gallon in 1994, a new home cost roughly $130,000, and the median household
earned about $32,300. Inflation ran at 2.6% for the year, the calmest reading since the
mid-1980s, even as the Federal Reserve spent the year raising interest rates precisely to keep
it that way. Chair Alan Greenspan’s Fed lifted the federal funds rate from 3% to 5.5% over six
moves, a preemptive tightening campaign meant to head off inflation before it built rather than
react to it after the fact. The bond market, unprepared for such a rapid climb, sold off
sharply, and the higher rates rippled into places few had expected: Orange County, California,
whose investment pool had bet heavily on rates staying low, filed for bankruptcy in December
after losing an estimated $1.7 billion, the largest municipal bankruptcy in the country’s
history at the time. On the trade front, NAFTA took effect January 1, phasing out tariffs on
thousands of goods moving between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, the start of a schedule that
would eliminate most remaining barriers over the following decade. It was a year that showed
inflation control could have its own costs, paid out in the bond market and, in Orange County’s
case, a bankruptcy court.
Every 1994 amount converts to 1996 at the same ratio, 1.06: $1,000 becomes
$1,059, and $10,000 becomes $10,587.
Amount in 1994
Value in 1996
$1.00
$1.06
$5.00
$5.29
$10.00
$10.59
$20.00
$21.17
$50.00
$52.94
$100
$106
$500
$529
$1,000
$1,059
$5,000
$5,294
$10,000
$10,587
$100,000
$105,870
$1,000,000
$1,058,704
Inflation by spending category, 1994–1996
Between 1994 and 1996, medical care rose the most, up 8.2%, while apparel fell 1.3%, against 5.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1994
spending costs in 1996, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1994 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.89%
$106
Medical care
4.00%
$108
Education & communication
3.60%
$107
Transportation
3.19%
$106
Food
3.07%
$106
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.87%
$106
Housing
2.73%
$106
Energy
2.60%
$105
Recreation
2.50%
$105
Apparel
-0.64%
$98.73
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1994
$100 from 1994 had already become $103 by
1995, on its way to $106 in 1996; 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 2.8% in 1995.
In 1996, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1994 had the buying
power of $106; the year's average CPI of 156.9 is the level
behind every 1996 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $35,500 in 1996, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, up noticeably
from the mid-decade lull, and a new home cost roughly $140,000. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the
year, ticking back up from 1995 as energy prices firmed. Washington passed two of the decade’s
more consequential laws that year: in February, the Telecommunications Act rewrote the rules for
phone, cable, and broadcast media for the first time since 1934, opening local markets to
competition and easing ownership limits; in August, a welfare overhaul ended the federal
guarantee of cash assistance, replacing it with block grants to states and time limits on
benefits. In October, the federal minimum wage rose to $4.75 an hour, its first increase in five
years and the opening step of a two-part law that would take it to $5.15 the following
September. Two sweeping new laws and a minimum wage finally on the move again made 1996 a year
that changed more about how the economy was governed than about how fast prices moved.
MLA: “Inflation from 1994 to 1996: $100 is worth $106 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-1996/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1994 to 1996. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-1996/