$100 in 2003 is worth $110 in 2006,
because prices increased 9.6% over that period, an average of
3.09% a year.
$100 in 2003 has
the same buying power as
$110
in 2006
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
9.6%
Average inflation rate
3.09% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$110
Price difference ($100 base)
$9.57
CPI in 2003
184
CPI in 2006
201.6
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
Inflation in 2006
3.23%
$100 in 2003 → 2006
$110
$100 in 2006 → 2003
$91.27
What happened to prices between 2003 and 2006
Between 2003 and 2006, the Consumer Price Index went from 184 to 201.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 9.6%, which works out to an average of
3.09% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2003 bought what
$0.91 buys in 2006: the 2003 dollar
lost 8.7% of its purchasing power over
these 3 years.
Inflation was 2.3% in 2003, up from 1.6% in 2002, as gasoline climbed from $1.36 to $1.59 a
gallon around the March invasion of Iraq. Even so, the Federal Reserve spent the year worried
about prices being too low: on June 25 it cut its policy rate to 1.0%, the lowest since 1958,
and said the risk of deflation, though small, deserved a response. The median household earned
about $43,300 and a new home cost roughly $195,000. Congress passed a second round of tax cuts
in May, and the economy grew faster in the second half of the year than at any point since
1999. Hiring lagged the recovery, and unemployment peaked at 6.3% in June. A first-class stamp
stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15.
Every 2003 amount converts to 2006 at the same ratio, 1.10: $1,000 becomes
$1,096, and $10,000 becomes $10,957.
Amount in 2003
Value in 2006
$1.00
$1.10
$5.00
$5.48
$10.00
$10.96
$20.00
$21.91
$50.00
$54.78
$100
$110
$500
$548
$1,000
$1,096
$5,000
$5,478
$10,000
$10,957
$100,000
$109,565
$1,000,000
$1,095,652
Inflation by spending category, 2003–2006
Between 2003 and 2006, energy rose the most, up 44.2%, while apparel fell 1.2%, against 9.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2003
spending costs in 2006, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2003 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.09%
$110
Energy
12.99%
$144
Transportation
4.70%
$115
Medical care
4.21%
$113
Housing
3.21%
$110
Food
2.74%
$108
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.14%
$107
Education & communication
2.08%
$106
Recreation
1.04%
$103
Apparel
-0.39%
$98.84
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2003
$100 from 2003 had already become $103 by
2004, on its way to $110 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 2.7% in 2004.
In 2006, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 2003 had the buying
power of $110; 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 2003 to 2006: $100 is worth $110 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2003-to-2006/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2003 to 2006. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2003-to-2006/