$100 in 1986 is worth $128 in 1992,
because prices increased 28.0% over that period, an average of
4.20% a year.
$100 in 1986 has
the same buying power as
$128
in 1992
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
28.0%
Average inflation rate
4.20% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$128
Price difference ($100 base)
$28.01
CPI in 1986
109.6
CPI in 1992
140.3
Inflation in 1986
1.86%
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
$100 in 1986 → 1992
$128
$100 in 1992 → 1986
$78.12
What happened to prices between 1986 and 1992
Between 1986 and 1992, the Consumer Price Index went from 109.6 to 140.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 28.0%, which works out to an average of
4.20% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1986 bought what
$0.78 buys in 1992: the 1986 dollar
lost 21.9% of its purchasing power over
these 6 years.
1986 delivered the decade’s biggest one-year drop in inflation, and it came
almost entirely from a single source: oil. Saudi Arabia abandoned its policy
of restraining output to prop up prices, and world crude collapsed from
about $27 a barrel to under $10 by midyear. Gasoline, which had averaged
$1.12 a gallon in 1985, fell to 86 cents. With energy costs plunging,
headline CPI inflation for the year came in at just 1.9%, the lowest annual
rate since 1965 and a striking bookend to 1980’s 13.5% peak. The relief was
uneven: prices for most goods and services outside energy kept rising at a
moderate pace, so households that didn’t drive much or heat with oil felt
less of the difference. In October, Congress passed the Tax Reform Act of
1986, a bipartisan overhaul that cut the top individual income tax rate from
50% to 28% while closing many deductions and shelters, the broadest rewrite
of the federal tax code since World War II. Between cheap gas and falling
interest rates, 1986 read like proof that the inflationary 1970s were a
closed chapter, six years after the U.S. economy had felt anything but
calm.
Every 1986 amount converts to 1992 at the same ratio, 1.28: $1,000 becomes
$1,280, and $10,000 becomes $12,801.
Amount in 1986
Value in 1992
$1.00
$1.28
$5.00
$6.40
$10.00
$12.80
$20.00
$25.60
$50.00
$64.01
$100
$128
$500
$640
$1,000
$1,280
$5,000
$6,401
$10,000
$12,801
$100,000
$128,011
$1,000,000
$1,280,109
Inflation by spending category, 1986–1992
Between 1986 and 1992, medical care rose the most, up 55.8%, while energy rose the least, up 16.8%, against 28.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1986
spending costs in 1992, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1986 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.20%
$128
Medical care
7.67%
$156
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.44%
$130
Food
4.00%
$127
Apparel
3.73%
$125
Housing
3.65%
$124
Transportation
3.60%
$124
Energy
2.62%
$117
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1986: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1986 to 1992
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.50% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (3.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1986–1992 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1986, at end
1986–1990
4.50%
19.3%
$119
1990–1992
3.61%
7.3%
$128
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1986
$100 from 1986 had already become $113 by
1989, on its way to $128 in 1992; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 5.4% in 1990, and the smallest rise was 3.0% in 1992.
In 1992, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1986 had the buying
power of $128; 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 1986 to 1992: $100 is worth $128 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-1992/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1986 to 1992. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-1992/