$100 in 1996 is worth $113 in 2001,
because prices increased 12.9% over that period, an average of
2.45% a year.
$100 in 1996 has
the same buying power as
$113
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
12.9%
Average inflation rate
2.45% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$113
Price difference ($100 base)
$12.87
CPI in 1996
156.9
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1996 → 2001
$113
$100 in 2001 → 1996
$88.59
What happened to prices between 1996 and 2001
Between 1996 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 156.9 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 12.9%, which works out to an average of
2.45% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1996 bought what
$0.89 buys in 2001: the 1996 dollar
lost 11.4% of its purchasing power over
these 5 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 2001 at the same ratio, 1.13: $1,000 becomes
$1,129, and $10,000 becomes $11,287.
Amount in 1996
Value in 2001
$1.00
$1.13
$5.00
$5.64
$10.00
$11.29
$20.00
$22.57
$50.00
$56.44
$100
$113
$500
$564
$1,000
$1,129
$5,000
$5,644
$10,000
$11,287
$100,000
$112,874
$1,000,000
$1,128,744
Inflation by spending category, 1996–2001
Between 1996 and 2001, medical care rose the most, up 19.5%, while apparel fell 3.3%, against 12.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1996
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1996 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.45%
$113
Medical care
3.63%
$120
Energy
3.27%
$117
Housing
2.91%
$115
Food
2.46%
$113
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.36%
$112
Education & communication
2.00%
$110
Transportation
1.53%
$108
Recreation
1.49%
$108
Apparel
-0.68%
$96.66
Decade by decade: 1996 to 2001
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.85% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.35% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1996–2001 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1996, at end
1996–2000
2.35%
9.8%
$110
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$113
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1996
$100 from 1996 had already become $104 by
1998, on its way to $113 in 2001; 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 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1996 had the buying
power of $113; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1996 to 2001: $100 is worth $113 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1996 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-2001/