$100 in 2003 is worth $139 in 2019,
because prices increased 38.9% over that period, an average of
2.08% a year.
$100 in 2003 has
the same buying power as
$139
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
38.9%
Average inflation rate
2.08% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$139
Price difference ($100 base)
$38.94
CPI in 2003
184
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 2003 → 2019
$139
$100 in 2019 → 2003
$71.97
What happened to prices between 2003 and 2019
Between 2003 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 184 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 38.9%, which works out to an average of
2.08% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2003 bought what
$0.72 buys in 2019: the 2003 dollar
lost 28.0% of its purchasing power over
these 16 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 2019 at the same ratio, 1.39: $1,000 becomes
$1,389, and $10,000 becomes $13,894.
Amount in 2003
Value in 2019
$1.00
$1.39
$5.00
$6.95
$10.00
$13.89
$20.00
$27.79
$50.00
$69.47
$100
$139
$500
$695
$1,000
$1,389
$5,000
$6,947
$10,000
$13,894
$100,000
$138,944
$1,000,000
$1,389,440
Inflation by spending category, 2003–2019
Between 2003 and 2019, medical care rose the most, up 67.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 2.6%, against 38.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2003
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2003 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.08%
$139
Medical care
3.29%
$168
Energy
2.89%
$158
Housing
2.30%
$144
Food
2.28%
$144
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.95%
$136
Transportation
1.81%
$133
Education & communication
1.43%
$125
Recreation
0.72%
$112
Apparel
0.16%
$103
Decade by decade: 2003 to 2019
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.46% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2003–2019 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2003, at end
2003–2010
2.46%
18.5%
$119
2010–2019
1.78%
17.2%
$139
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2003
$100 from 2003 had already become $122 by
2011, on its way to $139 in 2019; 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 2019, prices rose 1.8% and $100 from 2003 had the buying
power of $139; the year's average CPI of 255.657 is the level
behind every 2019 figure on this page.
2019 was the last ordinary year before COVID-19. Consumer prices rose 1.8%,
slightly under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with gasoline averaging
$2.60 a gallon. Median household income jumped to $68,703, the highest on
record up to that point, and the median new home sold for about $328,000. A
first-class stamp rose to 55 cents.
The Fed reversed course. After four increases in 2018, it cut rates three
times, to 1.50–1.75%, citing slower global growth, trade tensions, and low
inflation. In July the expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in
U.S. records, and in August the yield curve briefly inverted, a signal
investors read as a recession warning.
For workers at the bottom of the pay scale, 2019 marked a milestone of a
different kind. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and reached its tenth
year without an increase, the longest gap since the wage was first set. Because
prices had climbed about 19% since it was last raised in 2009, its buying power
was lower than at any point in that span.
MLA: “Inflation from 2003 to 2019: $100 is worth $139 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2003-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2003 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2003-to-2019/