$100 in 2006 is worth $118 in 2015,
because prices increased 17.6% over that period, an average of
1.81% a year.
$100 in 2006 has
the same buying power as
$118
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
17.6%
Average inflation rate
1.81% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$118
Price difference ($100 base)
$17.57
CPI in 2006
201.6
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 2006
3.23%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 2006 → 2015
$118
$100 in 2015 → 2006
$85.06
What happened to prices between 2006 and 2015
Between 2006 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 201.6 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 17.6%, which works out to an average of
1.81% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2006 bought what
$0.85 buys in 2015: the 2006 dollar
lost 14.9% of its purchasing power over
these 9 years.
Inflation was 3.2% in 2006 and gasoline averaged $2.59 a gallon, up 29 cents from 2005. The
median household earned about $48,200 and the median new home cost $246,500, a gain of about
2% after a 13% jump in 2004 and 9% in 2005. National home prices, by the S&P/Case-Shiller
index, peaked in mid-2006. Ben Bernanke replaced Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chair on
February 1, and on June 29 the Fed raised its policy rate to 5.25%, the last of 17 straight
quarter-point increases. It held there for over a year. A first-class stamp rose to 39 cents in
January, and the federal minimum wage was $5.15 for the ninth full year in a row.
Every 2006 amount converts to 2015 at the same ratio, 1.18: $1,000 becomes
$1,176, and $10,000 becomes $11,757.
Amount in 2006
Value in 2015
$1.00
$1.18
$5.00
$5.88
$10.00
$11.76
$20.00
$23.51
$50.00
$58.78
$100
$118
$500
$588
$1,000
$1,176
$5,000
$5,878
$10,000
$11,757
$100,000
$117,568
$1,000,000
$1,175,680
Inflation by spending category, 2006–2015
Between 2006 and 2015, medical care rose the most, up 32.9%, while energy rose the least, up 3.0%, against 17.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2006
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2006 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.81%
$118
Medical care
3.21%
$133
Food
2.66%
$127
Education & communication
1.89%
$118
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.82%
$118
Housing
1.77%
$117
Transportation
1.07%
$110
Apparel
0.58%
$105
Recreation
0.50%
$105
Energy
0.33%
$103
Decade by decade: 2006 to 2015
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 1.98% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.68% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2006–2015 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2006, at end
2006–2010
1.98%
8.2%
$108
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$118
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2006
$100 from 2006 had already become $108 by
2010, on its way to $118 in 2015; 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 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 2006 had the buying
power of $118; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 2006 to 2015: $100 is worth $118 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2006-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2006 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2006-to-2015/