$100 in 1996 is worth $110 in 2000,
because prices increased 9.8% over that period, an average of
2.35% a year.
$100 in 1996 has
the same buying power as
$110
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
9.8%
Average inflation rate
2.35% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$110
Price difference ($100 base)
$9.75
CPI in 1996
156.9
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1996 → 2000
$110
$100 in 2000 → 1996
$91.11
What happened to prices between 1996 and 2000
Between 1996 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 156.9 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 9.8%, which works out to an average of
2.35% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1996 bought what
$0.91 buys in 2000: the 1996 dollar
lost 8.9% of its purchasing power over
these 4 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 2000 at the same ratio, 1.10: $1,000 becomes
$1,098, and $10,000 becomes $10,975.
Amount in 1996
Value in 2000
$1.00
$1.10
$5.00
$5.49
$10.00
$10.98
$20.00
$21.95
$50.00
$54.88
$100
$110
$500
$549
$1,000
$1,098
$5,000
$5,488
$10,000
$10,975
$100,000
$109,751
$1,000,000
$1,097,514
Inflation by spending category, 1996–2000
Between 1996 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 14.3%, while apparel fell 1.6%, against 9.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1996
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1996 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.35%
$110
Medical care
3.39%
$114
Energy
3.14%
$113
Housing
2.64%
$111
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.29%
$109
Food
2.29%
$109
Education & communication
1.84%
$108
Transportation
1.75%
$107
Recreation
1.48%
$106
Apparel
-0.40%
$98.41
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1996
$100 from 1996 had already become $104 by
1998, on its way to $110 in 2000; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.4% in 2000, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1996 had the buying
power of $110; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1996 to 2000: $100 is worth $110 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1996 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-2000/