$100 in 1971 is worth $346 in 1992,
because prices increased 246.4% over that period, an average of
6.10% a year.
$100 in 1971 has
the same buying power as
$346
in 1992
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
246.4%
Average inflation rate
6.10% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$346
Price difference ($100 base)
$246
CPI in 1971
40.5
CPI in 1992
140.3
Inflation in 1971
4.38%
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
$100 in 1971 → 1992
$346
$100 in 1992 → 1971
$28.87
What happened to prices between 1971 and 1992
Between 1971 and 1992, the Consumer Price Index went from 40.5 to 140.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 246.4%, which works out to an average of
6.10% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1971 bought what
$0.29 buys in 1992: the 1971 dollar
lost 71.1% of its purchasing power over
these 21 years.
Consumer prices rose 4.4% in 1971, down from 1970’s 5.7% as
the recession that started in December 1969 finally cooled demand. The bigger
economic story came that August 15, when President Nixon closed the “gold
window” that let foreign governments exchange dollars for gold, ending the
Bretton Woods system that had anchored the dollar since World War II. The
same address announced a 90-day freeze on wages and prices, the first
peacetime controls the country had seen, an attempt to break inflationary
expectations without the slower grind of tighter money. The “Nixon Shock,” as
it came to be known, let the dollar float against other currencies for the
first time and set the stage for a wage-and-price-control regime that would
run in various forms into 1973. Politically, the country lowered its voting
age that year: the 26th Amendment, ratified July 1, extended the vote to
18-year-olds, capping a campaign built on the argument that men old enough to
be drafted to Vietnam were old enough to vote for the people who sent them.
The Postal Service, independent since 1970’s reorganization, raised
first-class postage from 6 to 8 cents that May. A median household earned
$9,028 in 1971, up from $8,734 the year before, while gas held near 36 cents
a gallon and a new home sold for a median $25,200. Consumer prices stood
309.1% above their 1913 level by year’s end, still years away
from the double-digit inflation the controls were meant to prevent.
Every 1971 amount converts to 1992 at the same ratio, 3.46: $1,000 becomes
$3,464, and $10,000 becomes $34,642.
Amount in 1971
Value in 1992
$1.00
$3.46
$5.00
$17.32
$10.00
$34.64
$20.00
$69.28
$50.00
$173
$100
$346
$500
$1,732
$1,000
$3,464
$5,000
$17,321
$10,000
$34,642
$100,000
$346,420
$1,000,000
$3,464,198
Inflation by spending category, 1971–1992
Between 1971 and 1992, medical care rose the most, up 426.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 115.9%, against 246.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1971
spending costs in 1992, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1971 →
All items (CPI-U)
6.10%
$346
Medical care
8.23%
$527
Energy
6.68%
$389
Housing
6.32%
$362
Core (all items less food & energy)
6.07%
$345
Food
6.02%
$341
Transportation
5.70%
$320
Apparel
3.73%
$216
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1971: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1971 to 1992
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 8.21% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (3.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1971–1992 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1971, at end
1971–1980
8.21%
103.5%
$203
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$323
1990–1992
3.61%
7.3%
$346
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1971
$100 from 1971 had already become $224 by
1981, on its way to $346 in 1992; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 13.5% in 1980, and the smallest rise was 1.9% in 1986.
In 1992, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1971 had the buying
power of $346; the year's average CPI of 140.3 is the level
behind every 1992 figure on this page.
1992 was the year the recovery finally showed up in the numbers, if not yet in hiring. The
median household earned about $30,600, gas averaged $1.13 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly
$121,500. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the year, its calmest reading since the mid-1980s, as energy
prices stayed well below their 1990 peak and a slack labor market kept a lid on wages and prices
alike. The Federal Reserve kept cutting its policy rate through the year, reaching about 3% by
September, the lowest in decades, trying to jump-start hiring more than a year after the 1990-91
recession officially ended. The sluggish job market became the defining issue of the November
election, and Bill Clinton unseated incumbent George H.W. Bush, whose approval ratings had
fallen sharply from their post-Gulf War highs. In August, Hurricane Andrew tore through South
Florida, the costliest U.S. hurricane on record at the time, causing tens of billions of dollars
in damage and reshaping how insurers priced catastrophe risk for years afterward. Falling rates,
a costly hurricane, and an election fought over jobs defined a recovery that showed up in the
data well before it showed up in most paychecks.
MLA: “Inflation from 1971 to 1992: $100 is worth $346 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1971-to-1992/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1971 to 1992. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1971-to-1992/