$100 in 1996 is worth $106 in 1999,
because prices increased 6.2% over that period, an average of
2.02% a year.
$100 in 1996 has
the same buying power as
$106
in 1999
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
6.2%
Average inflation rate
2.02% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$106
Price difference ($100 base)
$6.18
CPI in 1996
156.9
CPI in 1999
166.6
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
Inflation in 1999
2.21%
$100 in 1996 → 1999
$106
$100 in 1999 → 1996
$94.18
What happened to prices between 1996 and 1999
Between 1996 and 1999, the Consumer Price Index went from 156.9 to 166.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 6.2%, which works out to an average of
2.02% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1996 bought what
$0.94 buys in 1999: the 1996 dollar
lost 5.8% of its purchasing power over
these 3 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 1999 at the same ratio, 1.06: $1,000 becomes
$1,062, and $10,000 becomes $10,618.
Amount in 1996
Value in 1999
$1.00
$1.06
$5.00
$5.31
$10.00
$10.62
$20.00
$21.24
$50.00
$53.09
$100
$106
$500
$531
$1,000
$1,062
$5,000
$5,309
$10,000
$10,618
$100,000
$106,182
$1,000,000
$1,061,823
Inflation by spending category, 1996–1999
Between 1996 and 1999, medical care rose the most, up 9.8%, while energy fell 3.2%, against 6.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1996
spending costs in 1999, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1996 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.02%
$106
Medical care
3.17%
$110
Housing
2.37%
$107
Food
2.30%
$107
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.24%
$107
Education & communication
2.02%
$106
Recreation
1.55%
$105
Transportation
0.33%
$101
Apparel
-0.10%
$99.70
Energy
-1.07%
$96.82
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1996
$100 from 1996 had already become $102 by
1997, on its way to $106 in 1999; 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 1999, prices rose 2.2% and $100 from 1996 had the buying
power of $106; the year's average CPI of 166.6 is the level
behind every 1999 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $40,700 in 1999, gas averaged $1.17 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $161,000. Inflation ran at 2.2% for the year, ticking back up from 1998’s decade low
as oil prices recovered from their collapse. The decade closed with two changes to the financial
system that would shape the one after it: on January 1, the euro launched as an accounting
currency across 11 European countries, trading alongside national currencies like the French
franc and German mark ahead of physical cash in 2002, and in November, Congress passed the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, tearing down the Depression-era wall between commercial banks, investment
banks, and insurers. Stock markets, meanwhile, were absorbed in a boom of their own: the Nasdaq
surged through the year on soaring internet-stock valuations, and the Federal Reserve raised
interest rates three times in the second half of 1999 partly to cool the exuberance, even as it
pumped extra liquidity into the banking system to guard against any disruption from the Y2K
rollover. A first-class stamp cost 33 cents. Inflation had spent the decade falling from 1990’s
5.4% peak to averages closer to 2-3%, and 1999 closed it out almost exactly where the 1990s as a
whole had settled.
MLA: “Inflation from 1996 to 1999: $100 is worth $106 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-1999/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1996 to 1999. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-1999/