$100 in 2006 is worth $134 in 2021,
because prices increased 34.4% over that period, an average of
1.99% a year.
$100 in 2006 has
the same buying power as
$134
in 2021
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
34.4%
Average inflation rate
1.99% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$134
Price difference ($100 base)
$34.41
CPI in 2006
201.6
CPI in 2021
270.97
Inflation in 2006
3.23%
Inflation in 2021
4.70%
$100 in 2006 → 2021
$134
$100 in 2021 → 2006
$74.40
What happened to prices between 2006 and 2021
Between 2006 and 2021, the Consumer Price Index went from 201.6 to 270.97.
Cumulatively, prices increased 34.4%, which works out to an average of
1.99% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2006 bought what
$0.74 buys in 2021: the 2006 dollar
lost 25.6% of its purchasing power over
these 15 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 2021 at the same ratio, 1.34: $1,000 becomes
$1,344, and $10,000 becomes $13,441.
Amount in 2006
Value in 2021
$1.00
$1.34
$5.00
$6.72
$10.00
$13.44
$20.00
$26.88
$50.00
$67.20
$100
$134
$500
$672
$1,000
$1,344
$5,000
$6,720
$10,000
$13,441
$100,000
$134,410
$1,000,000
$1,344,097
Inflation by spending category, 2006–2021
Between 2006 and 2021, medical care rose the most, up 56.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 1.2%, against 34.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2006
spending costs in 2021, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2006 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.99%
$134
Medical care
3.02%
$156
Food
2.38%
$142
Housing
2.18%
$138
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.00%
$135
Transportation
1.63%
$128
Education & communication
1.34%
$122
Energy
1.28%
$121
Recreation
0.81%
$113
Apparel
0.08%
$101
Decade by decade: 2006 to 2021
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 4.70% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2006–2021 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2006, at end
2006–2010
1.98%
8.2%
$108
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$128
2020–2021
4.70%
4.7%
$134
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2006
$100 from 2006 had already become $116 by
2013, on its way to $134 in 2021; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 4.7% in 2021, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2021, prices rose 4.7% and $100 from 2006 had the buying
power of $134; the year's average CPI of 270.97 is the level
behind every 2021 figure on this page.
2021 was the year inflation stopped being background noise. Consumer prices
rose 4.7% on average for the year, and the pace kept building as the months
went on: by December, the 12-month rate had reached 7.0%, the highest since
1982. The proximate cause was a supply chain that could not keep up with a
fast-reopening economy. A global semiconductor shortage choked new car
production and pushed used vehicle prices up by more than a third, the
single largest line item in the year’s inflation math. Lumber, appliances,
and shipping capacity told versions of the same story: demand snapped back
faster than factories, ports, and truckers could handle it. Washington added
fuel in March with the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, on top of the
relief already in the pipeline since 2020. For most of the year, the Federal
Reserve called the price surge “transitory,” a temporary reopening effect
expected to fade on its own, and held its policy rate near zero. By
November, with inflation still climbing, the Fed reversed course and began
winding down its bond purchases, the first step toward the rate hikes that
would follow in 2022. Gas averaged $3.01 a gallon for the year, up from
about $2.17 in 2020, while the federal minimum wage held at $7.25,
unchanged since 2009. In hindsight, 2021 reads as the hinge year: the point
where “transitory” inflation became the multi-year fight the Fed spent the
next two years trying to win.
MLA: “Inflation from 2006 to 2021: $100 is worth $134 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2006-to-2021/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2006 to 2021. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2006-to-2021/