$100 in 1995 is worth $105 in 1997,
because prices increased 5.3% over that period, an average of
2.62% a year.
$100 in 1995 has
the same buying power as
$105
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
5.3%
Average inflation rate
2.62% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$105
Price difference ($100 base)
$5.31
CPI in 1995
152.4
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1995 → 1997
$105
$100 in 1997 → 1995
$94.95
What happened to prices between 1995 and 1997
Between 1995 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 152.4 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 5.3%, which works out to an average of
2.62% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1995 bought what
$0.95 buys in 1997: the 1995 dollar
lost 5.0% of its purchasing power over
these 2 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 1997 at the same ratio, 1.05: $1,000 becomes
$1,053, and $10,000 becomes $10,531.
Amount in 1995
Value in 1997
$1.00
$1.05
$5.00
$5.27
$10.00
$10.53
$20.00
$21.06
$50.00
$52.66
$100
$105
$500
$527
$1,000
$1,053
$5,000
$5,266
$10,000
$10,531
$100,000
$105,315
$1,000,000
$1,053,150
Inflation by spending category, 1995–1997
Between 1995 and 1997, education & communication rose the most, up 6.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 0.7%, against 5.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1995
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1995 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.62%
$105
Education & communication
3.31%
$107
Medical care
3.15%
$106
Food
2.95%
$106
Energy
2.95%
$106
Housing
2.76%
$106
Recreation
2.66%
$105
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.54%
$105
Transportation
1.85%
$104
Apparel
0.34%
$101
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1995
$100 from 1995 had already become $103 by
1996, on its way to $105 in 1997; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.0% in 1996, and the smallest rise was 2.3% in 1997.
In 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1995 had the buying
power of $105; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1995 to 1997: $100 is worth $105 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1995-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1995 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1995-to-1997/