$100 in 1973 is worth $316 in 1992,
because prices increased 216.0% over that period, an average of
6.24% a year.
$100 in 1973 has
the same buying power as
$316
in 1992
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
216.0%
Average inflation rate
6.24% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$316
Price difference ($100 base)
$216
CPI in 1973
44.4
CPI in 1992
140.3
Inflation in 1973
6.22%
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
$100 in 1973 → 1992
$316
$100 in 1992 → 1973
$31.65
What happened to prices between 1973 and 1992
Between 1973 and 1992, the Consumer Price Index went from 44.4 to 140.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 216.0%, which works out to an average of
6.24% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1973 bought what
$0.32 buys in 1992: the 1973 dollar
lost 68.4% of its purchasing power over
these 19 years.
Consumer prices rose 6.2% in 1973, nearly double 1972’s 3.2%,
as Nixon’s wage and price controls were phased out through the year and
pressure the controls had been holding back broke loose. The bigger shock
arrived that October, when Arab oil-producing states embargoed exports to the
United States and other supporters of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Crude
oil, which had traded around $3 a barrel, approached $12 by early 1974, and
gas lines became a fixture outside filling stations nationwide. Earlier in
the year, the Paris Peace Accords, signed that January 27, ended direct
American combat in Vietnam and set a 60-day deadline for withdrawing
remaining U.S. troops, even as fighting between North and South Vietnam went
on. Financial markets read the year correctly as a turning point: the Dow
Jones Industrial Average peaked at 1,051.70 on January 11, a level it would
not reach again until 1980, before the oil shock and rising interest rates
dragged it into a two-year bear market. A median household earned $10,512 in
1973, a new home sold for a median $32,500, and gas averaged 38.5 cents a
gallon, still under half of what the embargo’s effects would bring the
following year. Consumer prices stood 348.5% above their
1913 level by year’s end, with the decade’s worst inflation
still ahead.
Every 1973 amount converts to 1992 at the same ratio, 3.16: $1,000 becomes
$3,160, and $10,000 becomes $31,599.
Amount in 1973
Value in 1992
$1.00
$3.16
$5.00
$15.80
$10.00
$31.60
$20.00
$63.20
$50.00
$158
$100
$316
$500
$1,580
$1,000
$3,160
$5,000
$15,800
$10,000
$31,599
$100,000
$315,991
$1,000,000
$3,159,910
Inflation by spending category, 1973–1992
Between 1973 and 1992, medical care rose the most, up 389.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 104.2%, against 216.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1973
spending costs in 1992, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1973 →
All items (CPI-U)
6.24%
$316
Medical care
8.72%
$490
Energy
6.82%
$350
Housing
6.55%
$334
Core (all items less food & energy)
6.37%
$323
Transportation
6.08%
$307
Food
5.69%
$286
Apparel
3.83%
$204
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1973: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1973 to 1992
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 9.24% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (3.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1973–1992 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1973, at end
1973–1980
9.24%
85.6%
$186
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$294
1990–1992
3.61%
7.3%
$316
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1973
$100 from 1973 had already become $217 by
1982, on its way to $316 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 1973 had the buying
power of $316; 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 1973 to 1992: $100 is worth $316 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-1992/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1973 to 1992. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1973-to-1992/