$100 in 2004 is worth $125 in 2014,
because prices increased 25.3% over that period, an average of
2.28% a year.
$100 in 2004 has
the same buying power as
$125
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
25.3%
Average inflation rate
2.28% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$125
Price difference ($100 base)
$25.32
CPI in 2004
188.9
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 2004
2.66%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 2004 → 2014
$125
$100 in 2014 → 2004
$79.79
What happened to prices between 2004 and 2014
Between 2004 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 188.9 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 25.3%, which works out to an average of
2.28% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2004 bought what
$0.80 buys in 2014: the 2004 dollar
lost 20.2% of its purchasing power over
these 10 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 2014 at the same ratio, 1.25: $1,000 becomes
$1,253, and $10,000 becomes $12,532.
Amount in 2004
Value in 2014
$1.00
$1.25
$5.00
$6.27
$10.00
$12.53
$20.00
$25.06
$50.00
$62.66
$100
$125
$500
$627
$1,000
$1,253
$5,000
$6,266
$10,000
$12,532
$100,000
$125,323
$1,000,000
$1,253,235
Inflation by spending category, 2004–2014
Between 2004 and 2014, energy rose the most, up 60.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 5.9%, against 25.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2004
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2004 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.28%
$125
Energy
4.87%
$161
Medical care
3.45%
$140
Transportation
2.85%
$132
Food
2.69%
$130
Education & communication
2.11%
$123
Housing
2.10%
$123
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.92%
$121
Recreation
0.62%
$106
Apparel
0.58%
$106
Decade by decade: 2004 to 2014
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.42% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2004–2014 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2004, at end
2004–2010
2.42%
15.4%
$115
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$125
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2004
$100 from 2004 had already become $114 by
2009, on its way to $125 in 2014; 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 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 2004 had the buying
power of $125; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 2004 to 2014: $100 is worth $125 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2004-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2004 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2004-to-2014/