$100 in 1994 is worth $160 in 2014,
because prices increased 59.7% over that period, an average of
2.37% a year.
$100 in 1994 has
the same buying power as
$160
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
59.7%
Average inflation rate
2.37% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$160
Price difference ($100 base)
$59.74
CPI in 1994
148.2
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1994
2.56%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1994 → 2014
$160
$100 in 2014 → 1994
$62.60
What happened to prices between 1994 and 2014
Between 1994 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 148.2 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 59.7%, which works out to an average of
2.37% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1994 bought what
$0.63 buys in 2014: the 1994 dollar
lost 37.4% of its purchasing power over
these 20 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 2014 at the same ratio, 1.60: $1,000 becomes
$1,597, and $10,000 becomes $15,974.
Amount in 1994
Value in 2014
$1.00
$1.60
$5.00
$7.99
$10.00
$15.97
$20.00
$31.95
$50.00
$79.87
$100
$160
$500
$799
$1,000
$1,597
$5,000
$7,987
$10,000
$15,974
$100,000
$159,741
$1,000,000
$1,597,409
Inflation by spending category, 1994–2014
Between 1994 and 2014, energy rose the most, up 132.9%, while apparel fell 4.4%, against 59.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1994
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1994 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.37%
$160
Energy
4.32%
$233
Medical care
3.69%
$206
Food
2.63%
$168
Housing
2.41%
$161
Transportation
2.40%
$161
Education & communication
2.21%
$155
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.12%
$152
Recreation
1.11%
$125
Apparel
-0.23%
$95.59
Decade by decade: 1994 to 2014
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.53% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1994–2014 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1994, at end
1994–2000
2.53%
16.2%
$116
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$147
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$160
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1994
$100 from 1994 had already become $127 by
2004, on its way to $160 in 2014; 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 prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1994 had the buying
power of $160; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1994 to 2014: $100 is worth $160 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1994 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1994-to-2014/