$100 in 1995 is worth $143 in 2010,
because prices increased 43.1% over that period, an average of
2.42% a year.
$100 in 1995 has
the same buying power as
$143
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
43.1%
Average inflation rate
2.42% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$143
Price difference ($100 base)
$43.08
CPI in 1995
152.4
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 1995 → 2010
$143
$100 in 2010 → 1995
$69.89
What happened to prices between 1995 and 2010
Between 1995 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 152.4 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 43.1%, which works out to an average of
2.42% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1995 bought what
$0.70 buys in 2010: the 1995 dollar
lost 30.1% of its purchasing power over
these 15 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 2010 at the same ratio, 1.43: $1,000 becomes
$1,431, and $10,000 becomes $14,308.
Amount in 1995
Value in 2010
$1.00
$1.43
$5.00
$7.15
$10.00
$14.31
$20.00
$28.62
$50.00
$71.54
$100
$143
$500
$715
$1,000
$1,431
$5,000
$7,154
$10,000
$14,308
$100,000
$143,081
$1,000,000
$1,430,814
Inflation by spending category, 1995–2010
Between 1995 and 2010, energy rose the most, up 101.0%, while apparel fell 9.5%, against 43.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1995
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1995 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.42%
$143
Energy
4.76%
$201
Medical care
3.85%
$176
Food
2.65%
$148
Housing
2.54%
$146
Education & communication
2.31%
$141
Transportation
2.22%
$139
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.14%
$137
Recreation
1.22%
$120
Apparel
-0.66%
$90.53
Decade by decade: 1995 to 2010
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.47% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.39% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1995–2010 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1995, at end
1995–2000
2.47%
13.0%
$113
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$143
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1995
$100 from 1995 had already become $118 by
2002, on its way to $143 in 2010; 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 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1995 had the buying
power of $143; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 1995 to 2010: $100 is worth $143 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1995-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1995 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1995-to-2010/