$100 in 2013 is worth $116 in 2021,
because prices increased 16.3% over that period, an average of
1.91% a year.
$100 in 2013 has
the same buying power as
$116
in 2021
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
16.3%
Average inflation rate
1.91% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$116
Price difference ($100 base)
$16.32
CPI in 2013
232.957
CPI in 2021
270.97
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
Inflation in 2021
4.70%
$100 in 2013 → 2021
$116
$100 in 2021 → 2013
$85.97
What happened to prices between 2013 and 2021
Between 2013 and 2021, the Consumer Price Index went from 232.957 to 270.97.
Cumulatively, prices increased 16.3%, which works out to an average of
1.91% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2013 bought what
$0.86 buys in 2021: the 2013 dollar
lost 14.0% of its purchasing power over
these 8 years.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
Every 2013 amount converts to 2021 at the same ratio, 1.16: $1,000 becomes
$1,163, and $10,000 becomes $11,632.
Amount in 2013
Value in 2021
$1.00
$1.16
$5.00
$5.82
$10.00
$11.63
$20.00
$23.26
$50.00
$58.16
$100
$116
$500
$582
$1,000
$1,163
$5,000
$5,816
$10,000
$11,632
$100,000
$116,318
$1,000,000
$1,163,176
Inflation by spending category, 2013–2021
Between 2013 and 2021, medical care rose the most, up 23.6%, while apparel fell 5.0%, against 16.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2013
spending costs in 2021, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2013 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.91%
$116
Medical care
2.68%
$124
Housing
2.67%
$123
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.15%
$119
Food
2.00%
$117
Recreation
1.04%
$109
Transportation
0.74%
$106
Education & communication
0.61%
$105
Energy
-0.31%
$97.51
Apparel
-0.64%
$94.96
Decade by decade: 2013 to 2021
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 4.70% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.51% a year). Each step below chains into the full 2013–2021 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 2013, at end
2013–2020
1.51%
11.1%
$111
2020–2021
4.70%
4.7%
$116
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2013
$100 from 2013 had already become $105 by
2017, on its way to $116 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 the smallest rise was 0.1% in 2015.
In 2021, prices rose 4.7% and $100 from 2013 had the buying
power of $116; 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 2013 to 2021: $100 is worth $116 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2013-to-2021/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2013 to 2021. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2013-to-2021/