$100 in 1996 is worth $139 in 2010,
because prices increased 39.0% over that period, an average of
2.38% a year.
$100 in 1996 has
the same buying power as
$139
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
39.0%
Average inflation rate
2.38% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$139
Price difference ($100 base)
$38.98
CPI in 1996
156.9
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 1996 → 2010
$139
$100 in 2010 → 1996
$71.95
What happened to prices between 1996 and 2010
Between 1996 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 156.9 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 39.0%, which works out to an average of
2.38% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1996 bought what
$0.72 buys in 2010: the 1996 dollar
lost 28.0% of its purchasing power over
these 14 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 2010 at the same ratio, 1.39: $1,000 becomes
$1,390, and $10,000 becomes $13,898.
Amount in 1996
Value in 2010
$1.00
$1.39
$5.00
$6.95
$10.00
$13.90
$20.00
$27.80
$50.00
$69.49
$100
$139
$500
$695
$1,000
$1,390
$5,000
$6,949
$10,000
$13,898
$100,000
$138,978
$1,000,000
$1,389,777
Inflation by spending category, 1996–2010
Between 1996 and 2010, energy rose the most, up 92.1%, while apparel fell 9.3%, against 39.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1996
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1996 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.38%
$139
Energy
4.77%
$192
Medical care
3.87%
$170
Food
2.60%
$143
Housing
2.51%
$142
Education & communication
2.24%
$136
Transportation
2.18%
$135
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.09%
$134
Recreation
1.09%
$116
Apparel
-0.69%
$90.74
Decade by decade: 1996 to 2010
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.39% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.35% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1996–2010 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1996, at end
1996–2000
2.35%
9.8%
$110
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$139
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1996
$100 from 1996 had already become $117 by
2003, on its way to $139 in 2010; 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 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1996 had the buying
power of $139; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 1996 to 2010: $100 is worth $139 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1996 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-2010/