$100 in 1992 is worth $103 in 1993,
because prices increased 3.0% over that period, an average of
2.99% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$103
in 1993
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
3.0%
Average inflation rate
2.99% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$103
Price difference ($100 base)
$2.99
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 1993
144.5
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 1993
2.99%
$100 in 1992 → 1993
$103
$100 in 1993 → 1992
$97.09
What happened to prices between 1992 and 1993
Between 1992 and 1993, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 144.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 3.0%, which works out to an average of
2.99% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.97 buys in 1993: the 1992 dollar
lost 2.9% of its purchasing power over
these 1 years.
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.
Every 1992 amount converts to 1993 at the same ratio, 1.03: $1,000 becomes
$1,030, and $10,000 becomes $10,299.
Amount in 1992
Value in 1993
$1.00
$1.03
$5.00
$5.15
$10.00
$10.30
$20.00
$20.60
$50.00
$51.50
$100
$103
$500
$515
$1,000
$1,030
$5,000
$5,150
$10,000
$10,299
$100,000
$102,994
$1,000,000
$1,029,936
Inflation by spending category, 1992–1993
Between 1992 and 1993, medical care rose the most, up 5.9%, while energy rose the least, up 1.2%, against 3.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 1993, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.99%
$103
Medical care
5.94%
$106
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.33%
$103
Transportation
3.08%
$103
Housing
2.69%
$103
Food
2.18%
$102
Apparel
1.36%
$101
Energy
1.17%
$101
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1992: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1992
$100 from 1992grew to $103 by 1993; each row
shows the CPI, that year's inflation rate, and the running value.
In 1993, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $103; the year's average CPI of 144.5 is the level
behind every 1993 figure on this page.
By 1993, the median household earned about $31,200, gas averaged $1.11 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $126,500. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the year, holding close to where it had settled
the year before as the recovery slowly gathered strength. Washington spent much of the year on
two pieces of unfinished business from the recession: a deficit-reduction package, the Omnibus
Budget Reconciliation Act, that raised the top income tax rate to 39.6% to start narrowing a
budget gap left over from the 1980s, and a trade deal, the North American Free Trade Agreement,
that President Clinton signed into law in December after a contentious fight in Congress. NAFTA
phased out most tariffs between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada and took effect the following
January. The year’s other defining event had nothing to do with the economy: in February, a bomb
exploded in the World Trade Center’s parking garage, killing six people and injuring more than a
thousand. By year’s end, the pieces of the decade’s later economic story, freer trade, a
shrinking deficit, and inflation holding near 3%, were already in place.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 1993: $100 is worth $103 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-1993/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 1993. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-1993/