$100 in 1994 is worth $116 in 2000,
because prices increased 16.2% over that period, an average of
2.53% a year.
$100 in 1994 has
the same buying power as
$116
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
16.2%
Average inflation rate
2.53% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$116
Price difference ($100 base)
$16.19
CPI in 1994
148.2
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1994
2.56%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1994 → 2000
$116
$100 in 2000 → 1994
$86.06
What happened to prices between 1994 and 2000
Between 1994 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 148.2 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 16.2%, which works out to an average of
2.53% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1994 bought what
$0.86 buys in 2000: the 1994 dollar
lost 13.9% of its purchasing power over
these 6 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 2000 at the same ratio, 1.16: $1,000 becomes
$1,162, and $10,000 becomes $11,619.
Amount in 1994
Value in 2000
$1.00
$1.16
$5.00
$5.81
$10.00
$11.62
$20.00
$23.24
$50.00
$58.10
$100
$116
$500
$581
$1,000
$1,162
$5,000
$5,810
$10,000
$11,619
$100,000
$116,194
$1,000,000
$1,161,943
Inflation by spending category, 1994–2000
Between 1994 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 23.6%, while apparel fell 2.8%, against 16.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1994
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1994 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.53%
$116
Medical care
3.59%
$124
Energy
2.96%
$119
Housing
2.67%
$117
Food
2.55%
$116
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.48%
$116
Education & communication
2.42%
$115
Transportation
2.23%
$114
Recreation
1.82%
$111
Apparel
-0.48%
$97.15
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1994
$100 from 1994 had already become $108 by
1997, on its way to $116 in 2000; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.4% in 2000, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1994 had the buying
power of $116; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1994 to 2000: $100 is worth $116 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1994 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-2000/