$100 in 1996 is worth $104 in 1998,
because prices increased 3.9% over that period, an average of
1.93% a year.
$100 in 1996 has
the same buying power as
$104
in 1998
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
3.9%
Average inflation rate
1.93% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$104
Price difference ($100 base)
$3.89
CPI in 1996
156.9
CPI in 1998
163
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
$100 in 1996 → 1998
$104
$100 in 1998 → 1996
$96.26
What happened to prices between 1996 and 1998
Between 1996 and 1998, the Consumer Price Index went from 156.9 to 163.
Cumulatively, prices increased 3.9%, which works out to an average of
1.93% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1996 bought what
$0.96 buys in 1998: the 1996 dollar
lost 3.7% of its purchasing power over
these 2 years.
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.
Every 1996 amount converts to 1998 at the same ratio, 1.04: $1,000 becomes
$1,039, and $10,000 becomes $10,389.
Amount in 1996
Value in 1998
$1.00
$1.04
$5.00
$5.19
$10.00
$10.39
$20.00
$20.78
$50.00
$51.94
$100
$104
$500
$519
$1,000
$1,039
$5,000
$5,194
$10,000
$10,389
$100,000
$103,888
$1,000,000
$1,038,878
Inflation by spending category, 1996–1998
Between 1996 and 1998, medical care rose the most, up 6.1%, while energy fell 6.5%, against 3.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1996
spending costs in 1998, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1996 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.93%
$104
Medical care
3.00%
$106
Education & communication
2.59%
$105
Housing
2.46%
$105
Food
2.39%
$105
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.33%
$105
Recreation
1.88%
$104
Apparel
0.49%
$101
Transportation
-0.49%
$99.02
Energy
-3.33%
$93.46
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1996
$100 from 1996 had already become $102 by
1997, on its way to $104 in 1998; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 2.3% in 1997, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 1998, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1996 had the buying
power of $104; the year's average CPI of 163 is the level
behind every 1998 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $38,900 in 1998, gas averaged just $1.06 a gallon, its
cheapest of the decade, and a new home cost roughly $152,500. Inflation ran at 1.6% for the
year, the lowest of the 1990s, as a glut of crude oil, worsened by weak demand from Asia’s
slowdown, pushed prices below $11 a barrel by December and pulled pump prices down with them.
The calm at home came alongside real turmoil abroad: in August, Russia devalued the ruble and
defaulted on its domestic debt, rattling markets already unsettled by the Asian financial
crisis, and in September the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management collapsed after its highly
leveraged bets went bad, prompting the Federal Reserve to organize a private-sector bailout by
more than a dozen banks to prevent a disorderly unwinding of its roughly $100 billion in
positions. The Fed also cut interest rates three times that fall, in September, October, and
November, an insurance policy against the global financial turmoil spreading to the U.S.
economy. Cheap oil and a well-timed set of rate cuts left 1998 as a year the U.S. economy
absorbed two foreign financial crises without much of a dent at home.
MLA: “Inflation from 1996 to 1998: $100 is worth $104 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-1998/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1996 to 1998. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-1998/