$100 in 1995 is worth $103 in 1996,
because prices increased 3.0% over that period, an average of
2.95% a year.
$100 in 1995 has
the same buying power as
$103
in 1996
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
3.0%
Average inflation rate
2.95% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$103
Price difference ($100 base)
$2.95
CPI in 1995
152.4
CPI in 1996
156.9
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
$100 in 1995 → 1996
$103
$100 in 1996 → 1995
$97.13
What happened to prices between 1995 and 1996
Between 1995 and 1996, the Consumer Price Index went from 152.4 to 156.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 3.0%, which works out to an average of
2.95% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1995 bought what
$0.97 buys in 1996: the 1995 dollar
lost 2.9% of its purchasing power over
these 1 years.
In 1995, gas averaged $1.15 a gallon, a new home cost roughly $133,900, and the median household
earned about $34,100. Inflation ran at 2.8% for the year, little changed from 1994, as the
Federal Reserve shifted from raising rates to cutting them. Having lifted its policy rate six
times the year before, the Fed judged by July that the economy had cooled enough on its own, and
trimmed rates instead, an outcome economists would later point to as a rare soft landing. The
year opened with a currency crisis: Mexico’s peso lost roughly half its value against the dollar
in a matter of weeks, and the U.S. Treasury and the IMF assembled a $50 billion rescue package,
controversial in Congress, to stabilize it and keep the crisis from spreading to other emerging
markets. Closer to home, a budget standoff between President Clinton and the Republican Congress
shut down federal agencies twice, first for five days in November and then for 21 days spanning
December into January 1996, the longest shutdown up to that point. The Postal Service raised the
cost of a first-class stamp to 32 cents in January. Low, steady inflation was about the only calm
part of 1995’s economic story.
Every 1995 amount converts to 1996 at the same ratio, 1.03: $1,000 becomes
$1,030, and $10,000 becomes $10,295.
Amount in 1995
Value in 1996
$1.00
$1.03
$5.00
$5.15
$10.00
$10.30
$20.00
$20.59
$50.00
$51.48
$100
$103
$500
$515
$1,000
$1,030
$5,000
$5,148
$10,000
$10,295
$100,000
$102,953
$1,000,000
$1,029,528
Inflation by spending category, 1995–1996
Between 1995 and 1996, energy rose the most, up 4.7%, while apparel fell 0.2%, against 3.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1995
spending costs in 1996, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1995 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.95%
$103
Energy
4.66%
$105
Medical care
3.49%
$103
Education & communication
3.36%
$103
Food
3.30%
$103
Recreation
3.07%
$103
Housing
2.90%
$103
Transportation
2.80%
$103
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.73%
$103
Apparel
-0.23%
$99.77
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1995
$100 from 1995grew to $103 by 1996; each row
shows the CPI, that year's inflation rate, and the running value.
In 1996, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1995 had the buying
power of $103; the year's average CPI of 156.9 is the level
behind every 1996 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $35,500 in 1996, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, up noticeably
from the mid-decade lull, and a new home cost roughly $140,000. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the
year, ticking back up from 1995 as energy prices firmed. Washington passed two of the decade’s
more consequential laws that year: in February, the Telecommunications Act rewrote the rules for
phone, cable, and broadcast media for the first time since 1934, opening local markets to
competition and easing ownership limits; in August, a welfare overhaul ended the federal
guarantee of cash assistance, replacing it with block grants to states and time limits on
benefits. In October, the federal minimum wage rose to $4.75 an hour, its first increase in five
years and the opening step of a two-part law that would take it to $5.15 the following
September. Two sweeping new laws and a minimum wage finally on the move again made 1996 a year
that changed more about how the economy was governed than about how fast prices moved.
MLA: “Inflation from 1995 to 1996: $100 is worth $103 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1995-to-1996/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1995 to 1996. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1995-to-1996/