$100 in 1994 is worth $145 in 2008,
because prices increased 45.3% over that period, an average of
2.70% a year.
$100 in 1994 has
the same buying power as
$145
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
45.3%
Average inflation rate
2.70% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$145
Price difference ($100 base)
$45.28
CPI in 1994
148.2
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1994
2.56%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1994 → 2008
$145
$100 in 2008 → 1994
$68.83
What happened to prices between 1994 and 2008
Between 1994 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 148.2 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 45.3%, which works out to an average of
2.70% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1994 bought what
$0.69 buys in 2008: the 1994 dollar
lost 31.2% of its purchasing power over
these 14 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 2008 at the same ratio, 1.45: $1,000 becomes
$1,453, and $10,000 becomes $14,528.
Amount in 1994
Value in 2008
$1.00
$1.45
$5.00
$7.26
$10.00
$14.53
$20.00
$29.06
$50.00
$72.64
$100
$145
$500
$726
$1,000
$1,453
$5,000
$7,264
$10,000
$14,528
$100,000
$145,279
$1,000,000
$1,452,787
Inflation by spending category, 1994–2008
Between 1994 and 2008, energy rose the most, up 126.3%, while apparel fell 10.9%, against 45.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1994
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1994 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.70%
$145
Energy
6.01%
$226
Medical care
3.97%
$173
Housing
2.91%
$149
Food
2.86%
$148
Transportation
2.72%
$146
Education & communication
2.39%
$139
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.31%
$138
Recreation
1.44%
$122
Apparel
-0.82%
$89.14
Decade by decade: 1994 to 2008
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.83% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.53% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1994–2008 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1994, at end
1994–2000
2.53%
16.2%
$116
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$145
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1994
$100 from 1994 had already become $120 by
2001, on its way to $145 in 2008; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.8% in 2008, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1994 had the buying
power of $145; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1994 to 2008: $100 is worth $145 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1994 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-2008/