$100 in 1996 is worth $146 in 2012,
because prices increased 46.3% over that period, an average of
2.41% a year.
$100 in 1996 has
the same buying power as
$146
in 2012
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
46.3%
Average inflation rate
2.41% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$146
Price difference ($100 base)
$46.33
CPI in 1996
156.9
CPI in 2012
229.594
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
Inflation in 2012
2.07%
$100 in 1996 → 2012
$146
$100 in 2012 → 1996
$68.34
What happened to prices between 1996 and 2012
Between 1996 and 2012, the Consumer Price Index went from 156.9 to 229.594.
Cumulatively, prices increased 46.3%, which works out to an average of
2.41% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1996 bought what
$0.68 buys in 2012: the 1996 dollar
lost 31.7% of its purchasing power over
these 16 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 2012 at the same ratio, 1.46: $1,000 becomes
$1,463, and $10,000 becomes $14,633.
Amount in 1996
Value in 2012
$1.00
$1.46
$5.00
$7.32
$10.00
$14.63
$20.00
$29.27
$50.00
$73.17
$100
$146
$500
$732
$1,000
$1,463
$5,000
$7,317
$10,000
$14,633
$100,000
$146,331
$1,000,000
$1,463,314
Inflation by spending category, 1996–2012
Between 1996 and 2012, energy rose the most, up 123.5%, while apparel fell 4.1%, against 46.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1996
spending costs in 2012, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1996 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.41%
$146
Energy
5.16%
$224
Medical care
3.81%
$182
Food
2.67%
$152
Transportation
2.65%
$152
Housing
2.38%
$146
Education & communication
2.15%
$140
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.07%
$139
Recreation
1.03%
$118
Apparel
-0.26%
$95.87
Decade by decade: 1996 to 2012
Prices climbed fastest in the 2010s, averaging 2.61% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.35% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1996–2012 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
2010–2012
2.61%
5.3%
$146
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1996
$100 from 1996 had already become $120 by
2004, on its way to $146 in 2012; 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 2012, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1996 had the buying
power of $146; the year's average CPI of 229.594 is the level
behind every 2012 figure on this page.
2012 put a number on what the Federal Reserve was aiming for. In January the
Fed announced a 2% inflation target, and consumer prices rose 2.1% for the
year, almost exactly on it. Gasoline averaged $3.62 a gallon, another annual
high, but the pace of increase cooled from 2011’s 3.2% as food and core prices
grew more slowly.
The bigger story was housing and jobs. Home prices began to recover, and the
median new home sold for about $245,200, up from $227,200 the year before.
Median household income was $51,017. The federal minimum wage held at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 45 cents.
In September the Fed started a third round of asset purchases, this one with
no fixed end date, aimed at lowering unemployment. Overseas, the European
Central Bank’s July pledge to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro calmed
bond markets. A summer drought across the Midwest drove corn and soybean
prices to records, a shock that reached grocery shelves only partly, because
most of what shoppers pay for food covers processing and transport rather than
raw crops.
MLA: “Inflation from 1996 to 2012: $100 is worth $146 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-2012/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1996 to 2012. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-2012/