$100 in 1990 is worth $107 in 1992,
because prices increased 7.3% over that period, an average of
3.61% a year.
$100 in 1990 has
the same buying power as
$107
in 1992
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
7.3%
Average inflation rate
3.61% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$107
Price difference ($100 base)
$7.35
CPI in 1990
130.7
CPI in 1992
140.3
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
$100 in 1990 → 1992
$107
$100 in 1992 → 1990
$93.16
What happened to prices between 1990 and 1992
Between 1990 and 1992, the Consumer Price Index went from 130.7 to 140.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 7.3%, which works out to an average of
3.61% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1990 bought what
$0.93 buys in 1992: the 1990 dollar
lost 6.8% of its purchasing power over
these 2 years.
In 1990, the median U.S. household earned about $29,900, gas averaged $1.15 a
gallon, and mailing a letter cost a quarter. Inflation ran hot at 5.4% for the
year, its highest rate since 1982, pushed up by an oil shock after Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait, and the economy tipped into recession that summer. It was
the last gasp of elevated inflation before the long calm of the 1990s.
Every 1990 amount converts to 1992 at the same ratio, 1.07: $1,000 becomes
$1,073, and $10,000 becomes $10,735.
Amount in 1990
Value in 1992
$1.00
$1.07
$5.00
$5.37
$10.00
$10.73
$20.00
$21.47
$50.00
$53.67
$100
$107
$500
$537
$1,000
$1,073
$5,000
$5,367
$10,000
$10,735
$100,000
$107,345
$1,000,000
$1,073,451
Inflation by spending category, 1990–1992
Between 1990 and 1992, medical care rose the most, up 16.8%, while energy rose the least, up 0.9%, against 7.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1990
spending costs in 1992, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1990 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.61%
$107
Medical care
8.06%
$117
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.26%
$109
Housing
3.44%
$107
Apparel
3.09%
$106
Transportation
2.46%
$105
Food
2.06%
$104
Energy
0.44%
$101
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1990: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1990
$100 from 1990 had already become $104 by
1991, on its way to $107 in 1992; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 4.2% in 1991, and the smallest rise was 3.0% in 1992.
In 1992, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1990 had the buying
power of $107; 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 1990 to 1992: $100 is worth $107 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-1992/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1990 to 1992. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1990-to-1992/