$100 in 2004 is worth $115 in 2010,
because prices increased 15.4% over that period, an average of
2.42% a year.
$100 in 2004 has
the same buying power as
$115
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
15.4%
Average inflation rate
2.42% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$115
Price difference ($100 base)
$15.43
CPI in 2004
188.9
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 2004
2.66%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 2004 → 2010
$115
$100 in 2010 → 2004
$86.63
What happened to prices between 2004 and 2010
Between 2004 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 188.9 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 15.4%, which works out to an average of
2.42% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2004 bought what
$0.87 buys in 2010: the 2004 dollar
lost 13.4% of its purchasing power over
these 6 years.
Consumer prices rose 2.7% in 2004, with a 29-cent jump in the price of gasoline, to $1.88 a
gallon, doing much of the work. Crude oil passed $50 a barrel in October on rising demand
from China and India. The Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time in four years on
June 30, to 1.25%, and it kept going: 17 consecutive quarter-point increases took the rate to
5.25% by June 2006. Housing was already running ahead of incomes. The median household earned
about $44,300, up 2.3% from 2003, while the median new home sold for $221,000, up about 13%. A
first-class stamp stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15, unchanged since
1997.
Every 2004 amount converts to 2010 at the same ratio, 1.15: $1,000 becomes
$1,154, and $10,000 becomes $11,543.
Amount in 2004
Value in 2010
$1.00
$1.15
$5.00
$5.77
$10.00
$11.54
$20.00
$23.09
$50.00
$57.72
$100
$115
$500
$577
$1,000
$1,154
$5,000
$5,772
$10,000
$11,543
$100,000
$115,435
$1,000,000
$1,154,346
Inflation by spending category, 2004–2010
Between 2004 and 2010, energy rose the most, up 39.7%, while apparel fell 0.7%, against 15.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2004
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2004 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.42%
$115
Energy
5.73%
$140
Medical care
3.83%
$125
Transportation
2.88%
$119
Food
2.79%
$118
Education & communication
2.57%
$116
Housing
2.23%
$114
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.99%
$113
Recreation
0.71%
$104
Apparel
-0.12%
$99.25
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2004
$100 from 2004 had already become $110 by
2007, on its way to $115 in 2010; 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 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 2004 had the buying
power of $115; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 2004 to 2010: $100 is worth $115 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2004-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2004 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2004-to-2010/