$100 in 1997 is worth $126 in 2006,
because prices increased 25.6% over that period, an average of
2.57% a year.
$100 in 1997 has
the same buying power as
$126
in 2006
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
25.6%
Average inflation rate
2.57% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$126
Price difference ($100 base)
$25.61
CPI in 1997
160.5
CPI in 2006
201.6
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
Inflation in 2006
3.23%
$100 in 1997 → 2006
$126
$100 in 2006 → 1997
$79.61
What happened to prices between 1997 and 2006
Between 1997 and 2006, the Consumer Price Index went from 160.5 to 201.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 25.6%, which works out to an average of
2.57% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1997 bought what
$0.80 buys in 2006: the 1997 dollar
lost 20.4% of its purchasing power over
these 9 years.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
Every 1997 amount converts to 2006 at the same ratio, 1.26: $1,000 becomes
$1,256, and $10,000 becomes $12,561.
Amount in 1997
Value in 2006
$1.00
$1.26
$5.00
$6.28
$10.00
$12.56
$20.00
$25.12
$50.00
$62.80
$100
$126
$500
$628
$1,000
$1,256
$5,000
$6,280
$10,000
$12,561
$100,000
$125,607
$1,000,000
$1,256,075
Inflation by spending category, 1997–2006
Between 1997 and 2006, energy rose the most, up 76.6%, while apparel fell 10.1%, against 25.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1997
spending costs in 2006, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1997 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.57%
$126
Energy
6.52%
$177
Medical care
4.08%
$143
Housing
2.92%
$130
Transportation
2.54%
$125
Food
2.43%
$124
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.19%
$121
Education & communication
1.92%
$119
Recreation
1.20%
$111
Apparel
-1.17%
$89.92
Decade by decade: 1997 to 2006
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.66% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.37% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1997–2006 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1997, at end
1997–2000
2.37%
7.3%
$107
2000–2006
2.66%
17.1%
$126
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1997
$100 from 1997 had already become $110 by
2001, on its way to $126 in 2006; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.4% in 2005, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2006, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 1997 had the buying
power of $126; the year's average CPI of 201.6 is the level
behind every 2006 figure on this page.
Inflation was 3.2% in 2006 and gasoline averaged $2.59 a gallon, up 29 cents from 2005. The
median household earned about $48,200 and the median new home cost $246,500, a gain of about
2% after a 13% jump in 2004 and 9% in 2005. National home prices, by the S&P/Case-Shiller
index, peaked in mid-2006. Ben Bernanke replaced Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chair on
February 1, and on June 29 the Fed raised its policy rate to 5.25%, the last of 17 straight
quarter-point increases. It held there for over a year. A first-class stamp rose to 39 cents in
January, and the federal minimum wage was $5.15 for the ninth full year in a row.
MLA: “Inflation from 1997 to 2006: $100 is worth $126 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2006/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1997 to 2006. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2006/