$100 in 2016 is worth $107 in 2019,
because prices increased 6.5% over that period, an average of
2.13% a year.
$100 in 2016 has
the same buying power as
$107
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
6.5%
Average inflation rate
2.13% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$107
Price difference ($100 base)
$6.52
CPI in 2016
240.007
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 2016 → 2019
$107
$100 in 2019 → 2016
$93.88
What happened to prices between 2016 and 2019
Between 2016 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 240.007 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 6.5%, which works out to an average of
2.13% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 2016 bought what
$0.94 buys in 2019: the 2016 dollar
lost 6.1% of its purchasing power over
these 3 years.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
Every 2016 amount converts to 2019 at the same ratio, 1.07: $1,000 becomes
$1,065, and $10,000 becomes $10,652.
Amount in 2016
Value in 2019
$1.00
$1.07
$5.00
$5.33
$10.00
$10.65
$20.00
$21.30
$50.00
$53.26
$100
$107
$500
$533
$1,000
$1,065
$5,000
$5,326
$10,000
$10,652
$100,000
$106,521
$1,000,000
$1,065,206
Inflation by spending category, 2016–2019
Between 2016 and 2019, energy rose the most, up 13.6%, while apparel fell 1.6%, against 6.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 2016
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 2016 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.13%
$107
Energy
4.34%
$114
Housing
2.92%
$109
Transportation
2.53%
$108
Medical care
2.44%
$107
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.06%
$106
Food
1.38%
$104
Recreation
1.02%
$103
Education & communication
-0.32%
$99.03
Apparel
-0.53%
$98.42
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 2016
$100 from 2016 had already become $102 by
2017, on its way to $107 in 2019; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 2.4% in 2018, and the smallest rise was 1.8% in 2019.
In 2019, prices rose 1.8% and $100 from 2016 had the buying
power of $107; 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 2016 to 2019: $100 is worth $107 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2016-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 2016 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/2016-to-2019/