$100 in 1994 is worth $136 in 2006,
because prices increased 36.0% over that period, an average of
2.60% a year.
$100 in 1994 has
the same buying power as
$136
in 2006
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
36.0%
Average inflation rate
2.60% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$136
Price difference ($100 base)
$36.03
CPI in 1994
148.2
CPI in 2006
201.6
Inflation in 1994
2.56%
Inflation in 2006
3.23%
$100 in 1994 → 2006
$136
$100 in 2006 → 1994
$73.51
What happened to prices between 1994 and 2006
Between 1994 and 2006, the Consumer Price Index went from 148.2 to 201.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 36.0%, which works out to an average of
2.60% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1994 bought what
$0.74 buys in 2006: the 1994 dollar
lost 26.5% of its purchasing power over
these 12 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 2006 at the same ratio, 1.36: $1,000 becomes
$1,360, and $10,000 becomes $13,603.
Amount in 1994
Value in 2006
$1.00
$1.36
$5.00
$6.80
$10.00
$13.60
$20.00
$27.21
$50.00
$68.02
$100
$136
$500
$680
$1,000
$1,360
$5,000
$6,802
$10,000
$13,603
$100,000
$136,032
$1,000,000
$1,360,324
Inflation by spending category, 1994–2006
Between 1994 and 2006, energy rose the most, up 88.2%, while apparel fell 10.4%, against 36.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1994
spending costs in 2006, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1994 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.60%
$136
Energy
5.41%
$188
Medical care
3.96%
$159
Housing
2.86%
$140
Food
2.55%
$135
Transportation
2.51%
$135
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.31%
$132
Education & communication
2.31%
$132
Recreation
1.51%
$120
Apparel
-0.91%
$89.58
Decade by decade: 1994 to 2006
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.66% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.53% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1994–2006 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1994, at end
1994–2000
2.53%
16.2%
$116
2000–2006
2.66%
17.1%
$136
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1994
$100 from 1994 had already become $116 by
2000, on its way to $136 in 2006; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.4% in 2005, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2006, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 1994 had the buying
power of $136; the year's average CPI of 201.6 is the level
behind every 2006 figure on this page.
Inflation was 3.2% in 2006 and gasoline averaged $2.59 a gallon, up 29 cents from 2005. The
median household earned about $48,200 and the median new home cost $246,500, a gain of about
2% after a 13% jump in 2004 and 9% in 2005. National home prices, by the S&P/Case-Shiller
index, peaked in mid-2006. Ben Bernanke replaced Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chair on
February 1, and on June 29 the Fed raised its policy rate to 5.25%, the last of 17 straight
quarter-point increases. It held there for over a year. A first-class stamp rose to 39 cents in
January, and the federal minimum wage was $5.15 for the ninth full year in a row.
MLA: “Inflation from 1994 to 2006: $100 is worth $136 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-2006/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1994 to 2006. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-2006/