$100 in 2001 is worth $153 in 2021,
because prices increased 53.0% over that period, an average of
2.15% a year.
$100 in 2001 has
the same buying power as
$153
in 2021
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
53.0%
Average inflation rate
2.15% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$153
Price difference ($100 base)
$53.00
CPI in 2001
177.1
CPI in 2021
270.97
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
Inflation in 2021
4.70%
$100 in 2001 → 2021
$153
$100 in 2021 → 2001
$65.36
What happened to prices between 2001 and 2021
Between 2001 and 2021, the Consumer Price Index went from 177.1 to 270.97.
Cumulatively, prices increased 53.0%, which works out to an average of
2.15% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2001 bought what
$0.65 buys in 2021: the 2001 dollar
lost 34.6% of its purchasing power over
these 20 years.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
Every 2001 amount converts to 2021 at the same ratio, 1.53: $1,000 becomes
$1,530, and $10,000 becomes $15,300.
Amount in 2001
Value in 2021
$1.00
$1.53
$5.00
$7.65
$10.00
$15.30
$20.00
$30.60
$50.00
$76.50
$100
$153
$500
$765
$1,000
$1,530
$5,000
$7,650
$10,000
$15,300
$100,000
$153,004
$1,000,000
$1,530,040
Inflation by spending category, 2001–2021
Between 2001 and 2021, medical care rose the most, up 92.5%, while apparel fell 5.0%, against 53.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2001
spending costs in 2021, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2001 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.15%
$153
Medical care
3.33%
$193
Energy
3.10%
$184
Food
2.39%
$160
Housing
2.35%
$159
Transportation
2.03%
$149
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.01%
$149
Education & communication
1.53%
$136
Recreation
0.89%
$119
Apparel
-0.25%
$95.05
Decade by decade: 2001 to 2021
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 4.70% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2001–2021 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2001, at end
2001–2010
2.34%
23.1%
$123
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$146
2020–2021
4.70%
4.7%
$153
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2001
$100 from 2001 had already become $127 by
2011, on its way to $153 in 2021; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 4.7% in 2021, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2021, prices rose 4.7% and $100 from 2001 had the buying
power of $153; the year's average CPI of 270.97 is the level
behind every 2021 figure on this page.
2021 was the year inflation stopped being background noise. Consumer prices
rose 4.7% on average for the year, and the pace kept building as the months
went on: by December, the 12-month rate had reached 7.0%, the highest since
1982. The proximate cause was a supply chain that could not keep up with a
fast-reopening economy. A global semiconductor shortage choked new car
production and pushed used vehicle prices up by more than a third, the
single largest line item in the year’s inflation math. Lumber, appliances,
and shipping capacity told versions of the same story: demand snapped back
faster than factories, ports, and truckers could handle it. Washington added
fuel in March with the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, on top of the
relief already in the pipeline since 2020. For most of the year, the Federal
Reserve called the price surge “transitory,” a temporary reopening effect
expected to fade on its own, and held its policy rate near zero. By
November, with inflation still climbing, the Fed reversed course and began
winding down its bond purchases, the first step toward the rate hikes that
would follow in 2022. Gas averaged $3.01 a gallon for the year, up from
about $2.17 in 2020, while the federal minimum wage held at $7.25,
unchanged since 2009. In hindsight, 2021 reads as the hinge year: the point
where “transitory” inflation became the multi-year fight the Fed spent the
next two years trying to win.
MLA: “Inflation from 2001 to 2021: $100 is worth $153 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2001-to-2021/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2001 to 2021. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2001-to-2021/