$100 in 1996 is worth $153 in 2016,
because prices increased 53.0% over that period, an average of
2.15% a year.
$100 in 1996 has
the same buying power as
$153
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
53.0%
Average inflation rate
2.15% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$153
Price difference ($100 base)
$52.97
CPI in 1996
156.9
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1996 → 2016
$153
$100 in 2016 → 1996
$65.37
What happened to prices between 1996 and 2016
Between 1996 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 156.9 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 53.0%, which works out to an average of
2.15% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1996 bought what
$0.65 buys in 2016: the 1996 dollar
lost 34.6% of its purchasing power over
these 20 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 2016 at the same ratio, 1.53: $1,000 becomes
$1,530, and $10,000 becomes $15,297.
Amount in 1996
Value in 2016
$1.00
$1.53
$5.00
$7.65
$10.00
$15.30
$20.00
$30.59
$50.00
$76.48
$100
$153
$500
$765
$1,000
$1,530
$5,000
$7,648
$10,000
$15,297
$100,000
$152,968
$1,000,000
$1,529,681
Inflation by spending category, 1996–2016
Between 1996 and 2016, medical care rose the most, up 103.2%, while apparel fell 4.3%, against 53.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1996
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1996 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.15%
$153
Medical care
3.61%
$203
Energy
2.75%
$172
Food
2.43%
$162
Housing
2.37%
$160
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.03%
$150
Education & communication
1.91%
$146
Transportation
1.56%
$136
Recreation
0.92%
$120
Apparel
-0.22%
$95.71
Decade by decade: 1996 to 2016
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.39% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1996–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$153
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1996
$100 from 1996 had already become $128 by
2006, on its way to $153 in 2016; 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 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1996 had the buying
power of $153; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1996 to 2016: $100 is worth $153 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1996 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1996-to-2016/