$100 in 1994 is worth $108 in 1997,
because prices increased 8.3% over that period, an average of
2.69% a year.
$100 in 1994 has
the same buying power as
$108
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
8.3%
Average inflation rate
2.69% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$108
Price difference ($100 base)
$8.30
CPI in 1994
148.2
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1994
2.56%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1994 → 1997
$108
$100 in 1997 → 1994
$92.34
What happened to prices between 1994 and 1997
Between 1994 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 148.2 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 8.3%, which works out to an average of
2.69% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1994 bought what
$0.92 buys in 1997: the 1994 dollar
lost 7.7% of its purchasing power over
these 3 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 1997 at the same ratio, 1.08: $1,000 becomes
$1,083, and $10,000 becomes $10,830.
Amount in 1994
Value in 1997
$1.00
$1.08
$5.00
$5.41
$10.00
$10.83
$20.00
$21.66
$50.00
$54.15
$100
$108
$500
$541
$1,000
$1,083
$5,000
$5,415
$10,000
$10,830
$100,000
$108,300
$1,000,000
$1,082,996
Inflation by spending category, 1994–1997
Between 1994 and 1997, medical care rose the most, up 11.2%, while apparel fell 0.4%, against 8.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1994
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1994 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.69%
$108
Medical care
3.60%
$111
Education & communication
3.48%
$111
Food
2.92%
$109
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.70%
$108
Housing
2.69%
$108
Transportation
2.42%
$107
Recreation
2.42%
$107
Energy
2.15%
$107
Apparel
-0.13%
$99.63
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1994
$100 from 1994 had already become $103 by
1995, on its way to $108 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 1994 had the buying
power of $108; 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 1994 to 1997: $100 is worth $108 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1994 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-1997/