$100 in 1994 is worth $120 in 2001,
because prices increased 19.5% over that period, an average of
2.58% a year.
$100 in 1994 has
the same buying power as
$120
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
19.5%
Average inflation rate
2.58% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$120
Price difference ($100 base)
$19.50
CPI in 1994
148.2
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1994
2.56%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1994 → 2001
$120
$100 in 2001 → 1994
$83.68
What happened to prices between 1994 and 2001
Between 1994 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 148.2 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 19.5%, which works out to an average of
2.58% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1994 bought what
$0.84 buys in 2001: the 1994 dollar
lost 16.3% of its purchasing power over
these 7 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 2001 at the same ratio, 1.20: $1,000 becomes
$1,195, and $10,000 becomes $11,950.
Amount in 1994
Value in 2001
$1.00
$1.20
$5.00
$5.98
$10.00
$11.95
$20.00
$23.90
$50.00
$59.75
$100
$120
$500
$598
$1,000
$1,195
$5,000
$5,975
$10,000
$11,950
$100,000
$119,501
$1,000,000
$1,195,007
Inflation by spending category, 1994–2001
Between 1994 and 2001, medical care rose the most, up 29.3%, while apparel fell 4.6%, against 19.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1994
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1994 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.58%
$120
Medical care
3.74%
$129
Energy
3.07%
$124
Housing
2.86%
$122
Food
2.63%
$120
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.51%
$119
Education & communication
2.45%
$118
Transportation
2.00%
$115
Recreation
1.78%
$113
Apparel
-0.67%
$95.43
Decade by decade: 1994 to 2001
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.85% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.53% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1994–2001 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1994, at end
1994–2000
2.53%
16.2%
$116
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$120
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1994
$100 from 1994 had already become $108 by
1997, on its way to $120 in 2001; 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 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1994 had the buying
power of $120; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1994 to 2001: $100 is worth $120 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1994 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-2001/