$100 in 1995 is worth $156 in 2015,
because prices increased 55.5% over that period, an average of
2.23% a year.
$100 in 1995 has
the same buying power as
$156
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
55.5%
Average inflation rate
2.23% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$156
Price difference ($100 base)
$55.52
CPI in 1995
152.4
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 1995 → 2015
$156
$100 in 2015 → 1995
$64.30
What happened to prices between 1995 and 2015
Between 1995 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 152.4 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 55.5%, which works out to an average of
2.23% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1995 bought what
$0.64 buys in 2015: the 1995 dollar
lost 35.7% of its purchasing power over
these 20 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 2015 at the same ratio, 1.56: $1,000 becomes
$1,555, and $10,000 becomes $15,552.
Amount in 1995
Value in 2015
$1.00
$1.56
$5.00
$7.78
$10.00
$15.55
$20.00
$31.10
$50.00
$77.76
$100
$156
$500
$778
$1,000
$1,555
$5,000
$7,776
$10,000
$15,552
$100,000
$155,523
$1,000,000
$1,555,230
Inflation by spending category, 1995–2015
Between 1995 and 2015, medical care rose the most, up 102.6%, while apparel fell 4.6%, against 55.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1995
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1995 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.23%
$156
Medical care
3.59%
$203
Energy
3.34%
$193
Food
2.58%
$167
Housing
2.39%
$160
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.06%
$150
Education & communication
2.04%
$150
Transportation
1.81%
$143
Recreation
1.03%
$123
Apparel
-0.24%
$95.38
Decade by decade: 1995 to 2015
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.47% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.68% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1995–2015 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
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$156
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1995
$100 from 1995 had already become $128 by
2005, on its way to $156 in 2015; 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 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 1995 had the buying
power of $156; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 1995 to 2015: $100 is worth $156 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1995-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1995 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1995-to-2015/