$100 in 2004 is worth $161 in 2023,
because prices increased 61.3% over that period, an average of
2.55% a year.
$100 in 2004 has
the same buying power as
$161
in 2023
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
61.3%
Average inflation rate
2.55% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$161
Price difference ($100 base)
$61.30
CPI in 2004
188.9
CPI in 2023
304.702
Inflation in 2004
2.66%
Inflation in 2023
4.12%
$100 in 2004 → 2023
$161
$100 in 2023 → 2004
$61.99
What happened to prices between 2004 and 2023
Between 2004 and 2023, the Consumer Price Index went from 188.9 to 304.702.
Cumulatively, prices increased 61.3%, which works out to an average of
2.55% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2004 bought what
$0.62 buys in 2023: the 2004 dollar
lost 38.0% of its purchasing power over
these 19 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 2023 at the same ratio, 1.61: $1,000 becomes
$1,613, and $10,000 becomes $16,130.
Amount in 2004
Value in 2023
$1.00
$1.61
$5.00
$8.07
$10.00
$16.13
$20.00
$32.26
$50.00
$80.65
$100
$161
$500
$807
$1,000
$1,613
$5,000
$8,065
$10,000
$16,130
$100,000
$161,303
$1,000,000
$1,613,033
Inflation by spending category, 2004–2023
Between 2004 and 2023, energy rose the most, up 87.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 8.5%, against 61.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2004
spending costs in 2023, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2004 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.55%
$161
Energy
3.35%
$187
Medical care
3.05%
$177
Food
2.94%
$173
Housing
2.80%
$169
Transportation
2.63%
$164
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.40%
$157
Education & communication
1.39%
$130
Recreation
1.20%
$125
Apparel
0.43%
$108
Decade by decade: 2004 to 2023
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 5.59% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2004–2023 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2004, at end
2004–2010
2.42%
15.4%
$115
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$137
2020–2023
5.59%
17.7%
$161
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2004
$100 from 2004 had already become $123 by
2013, on its way to $161 in 2023; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 8.0% in 2022, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2023, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 2004 had the buying
power of $161; the year's average CPI of 304.702 is the level
behind every 2023 figure on this page.
2023 was the year inflation came down without a recession. Consumer prices
rose 4.1% on average, roughly half of 2022’s 8.0%, and the December-to-December
rate fell to 3.4%. Gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon, well below the 2022
average, and supply-chain pressure on goods eased. Shelter, restaurant meals,
and other services stayed expensive, so the CPI kept rising at a rate well
above the pre-pandemic pace.
The Federal Reserve completed its rate-hiking campaign in July, taking the
policy rate to 5.25–5.50%, the highest level in 22 years. The effects showed
up in banking: Silicon Valley Bank failed in March after rate increases eroded
the value of its bond portfolio, the second-largest bank failure in U.S.
history at the time. Despite that, unemployment stayed under 4% all year.
Median household income was $80,610 according to the Census Bureau. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp rose to 66 cents
in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 2004 to 2023: $100 is worth $161 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2004-to-2023/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2004 to 2023. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2004-to-2023/