$100 in 2005 is worth $131 in 2019,
because prices increased 30.9% over that period, an average of
1.94% a year.
$100 in 2005 has
the same buying power as
$131
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
30.9%
Average inflation rate
1.94% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$131
Price difference ($100 base)
$30.90
CPI in 2005
195.3
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 2005
3.39%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 2005 → 2019
$131
$100 in 2019 → 2005
$76.39
What happened to prices between 2005 and 2019
Between 2005 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 195.3 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 30.9%, which works out to an average of
1.94% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2005 bought what
$0.76 buys in 2019: the 2005 dollar
lost 23.6% of its purchasing power over
these 14 years.
Inflation rose to 3.4% in 2005, up from 2.7% in 2004, as gasoline averaged $2.30 a gallon,
compared with $1.88 the year before. Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, and with
Hurricane Rita weeks later it disrupted Gulf Coast refining, pushing the national average
price past $3 in early September. The Federal Reserve raised its policy rate at every meeting,
from 2.25% to 4.25%, to keep energy costs from feeding into other prices. The median household
earned about $46,300, up 4.5% from 2004, but the median new home price rose a further 9%, to
$240,900. In April, Congress passed a bankruptcy law that made it harder to clear debts. A
first-class stamp stayed at 37 cents until January 2006, and the federal minimum wage stayed
at $5.15.
Every 2005 amount converts to 2019 at the same ratio, 1.31: $1,000 becomes
$1,309, and $10,000 becomes $13,090.
Amount in 2005
Value in 2019
$1.00
$1.31
$5.00
$6.55
$10.00
$13.09
$20.00
$26.18
$50.00
$65.45
$100
$131
$500
$655
$1,000
$1,309
$5,000
$6,545
$10,000
$13,090
$100,000
$130,905
$1,000,000
$1,309,048
Inflation by spending category, 2005–2019
Between 2005 and 2019, medical care rose the most, up 54.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 3.8%, against 30.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2005
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2005 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.94%
$131
Medical care
3.14%
$154
Housing
2.22%
$136
Food
2.19%
$135
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.95%
$131
Energy
1.40%
$122
Education & communication
1.38%
$121
Transportation
1.36%
$121
Recreation
0.70%
$110
Apparel
0.27%
$104
Decade by decade: 2005 to 2019
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.23% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2005–2019 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2005, at end
2005–2010
2.23%
11.7%
$112
2010–2019
1.78%
17.2%
$131
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2005
$100 from 2005 had already become $118 by
2012, on its way to $131 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 2005 had the buying
power of $131; 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 2005 to 2019: $100 is worth $131 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2005-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2005 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2005-to-2019/