$100 in 1996 is worth $151 in 2014,
because prices increased 50.9% over that period, an average of
2.31% a year.
$100 in 1996 has
the same buying power as
$151
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
50.9%
Average inflation rate
2.31% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$151
Price difference ($100 base)
$50.88
CPI in 1996
156.9
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1996 → 2014
$151
$100 in 2014 → 1996
$66.28
What happened to prices between 1996 and 2014
Between 1996 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 156.9 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 50.9%, which works out to an average of
2.31% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1996 bought what
$0.66 buys in 2014: the 1996 dollar
lost 33.7% of its purchasing power over
these 18 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 2014 at the same ratio, 1.51: $1,000 becomes
$1,509, and $10,000 becomes $15,088.
Amount in 1996
Value in 2014
$1.00
$1.51
$5.00
$7.54
$10.00
$15.09
$20.00
$30.18
$50.00
$75.44
$100
$151
$500
$754
$1,000
$1,509
$5,000
$7,544
$10,000
$15,088
$100,000
$150,883
$1,000,000
$1,508,834
Inflation by spending category, 1996–2014
Between 1996 and 2014, energy rose the most, up 121.2%, while apparel fell 3.2%, against 50.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1996
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1996 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.31%
$151
Energy
4.51%
$221
Medical care
3.65%
$191
Food
2.59%
$158
Housing
2.38%
$153
Transportation
2.32%
$151
Education & communication
2.06%
$144
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.03%
$144
Recreation
0.95%
$119
Apparel
-0.18%
$96.82
Decade by decade: 1996 to 2014
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.39% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1996–2014 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
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$151
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1996
$100 from 1996 had already become $124 by
2005, on its way to $151 in 2014; 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 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1996 had the buying
power of $151; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1996 to 2014: $100 is worth $151 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1996 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-2014/