$100 in 1991 is worth $103 in 1992,
because prices increased 3.0% over that period, an average of
3.01% a year.
$100 in 1991 has
the same buying power as
$103
in 1992
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
3.0%
Average inflation rate
3.01% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$103
Price difference ($100 base)
$3.01
CPI in 1991
136.2
CPI in 1992
140.3
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
$100 in 1991 → 1992
$103
$100 in 1992 → 1991
$97.08
What happened to prices between 1991 and 1992
Between 1991 and 1992, the Consumer Price Index went from 136.2 to 140.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 3.0%, which works out to an average of
3.01% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1991 bought what
$0.97 buys in 1992: the 1991 dollar
lost 2.9% of its purchasing power over
these 1 years.
1991 opened in recession and closed in a slow, uneven recovery. The median household earned
about $30,100 for the year, gas averaged $1.14 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $120,000.
Inflation ran at 4.2% for the year, down from 1990’s oil-driven spike, as the Gulf War ended in
February and crude oil retreated from its autumn highs. The recession itself, dated by the
National Bureau of Economic Research from July 1990 to March 1991, was technically over by
spring, but hiring stayed weak well into 1992, the stretch economists came to call the jobless
recovery. The Federal Reserve kept cutting interest rates through the year to support growth,
reversing the tightening campaign it had run through the late 1980s. In April the federal
minimum wage rose to $4.25 an hour, the second step of an increase from the $3.35 rate that had
held since 1981. The Postal Service had already raised the cost of a first-class stamp to 29
cents that February. It was the first full year of the decade without an oil shock driving
prices, even if the job market took longer to follow.
Every 1991 amount converts to 1992 at the same ratio, 1.03: $1,000 becomes
$1,030, and $10,000 becomes $10,301.
Amount in 1991
Value in 1992
$1.00
$1.03
$5.00
$5.15
$10.00
$10.30
$20.00
$20.60
$50.00
$51.51
$100
$103
$500
$515
$1,000
$1,030
$5,000
$5,151
$10,000
$10,301
$100,000
$103,010
$1,000,000
$1,030,103
Inflation by spending category, 1991–1992
Between 1991 and 1992, medical care rose the most, up 7.4%, while energy rose the least, up 0.5%, against 3.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1991
spending costs in 1992, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1991 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.01%
$103
Medical care
7.40%
$107
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.66%
$104
Housing
2.92%
$103
Apparel
2.49%
$102
Transportation
2.18%
$102
Food
1.17%
$101
Energy
0.49%
$100
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1991: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1991
$100 from 1991grew to $103 by 1992; each row
shows the CPI, that year's inflation rate, and the running value.
In 1992, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1991 had the buying
power of $103; 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 1991 to 1992: $100 is worth $103 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-1992/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1991 to 1992. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1991-to-1992/