$100 in 1992 is worth $106 in 1994,
because prices increased 5.6% over that period, an average of
2.78% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$106
in 1994
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
5.6%
Average inflation rate
2.78% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$106
Price difference ($100 base)
$5.63
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 1994
148.2
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 1994
2.56%
$100 in 1992 → 1994
$106
$100 in 1994 → 1992
$94.67
What happened to prices between 1992 and 1994
Between 1992 and 1994, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 148.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 5.6%, which works out to an average of
2.78% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.95 buys in 1994: the 1992 dollar
lost 5.3% of its purchasing power over
these 2 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 1994 at the same ratio, 1.06: $1,000 becomes
$1,056, and $10,000 becomes $10,563.
Amount in 1992
Value in 1994
$1.00
$1.06
$5.00
$5.28
$10.00
$10.56
$20.00
$21.13
$50.00
$52.82
$100
$106
$500
$528
$1,000
$1,056
$5,000
$5,282
$10,000
$10,563
$100,000
$105,631
$1,000,000
$1,056,308
Inflation by spending category, 1992–1994
Between 1992 and 1994, medical care rose the most, up 11.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 1.1%, against 5.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 1994, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.78%
$106
Medical care
5.35%
$111
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.08%
$106
Transportation
3.04%
$106
Housing
2.62%
$105
Food
2.29%
$105
Energy
0.77%
$102
Apparel
0.57%
$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 1992 had already become $103 by
1993, on its way to $106 in 1994; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.0% in 1993, and the smallest rise was 2.6% in 1994.
In 1994, prices rose 2.6% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $106; the year's average CPI of 148.2 is the level
behind every 1994 figure on this page.
Gas averaged $1.11 a gallon in 1994, a new home cost roughly $130,000, and the median household
earned about $32,300. Inflation ran at 2.6% for the year, the calmest reading since the
mid-1980s, even as the Federal Reserve spent the year raising interest rates precisely to keep
it that way. Chair Alan Greenspan’s Fed lifted the federal funds rate from 3% to 5.5% over six
moves, a preemptive tightening campaign meant to head off inflation before it built rather than
react to it after the fact. The bond market, unprepared for such a rapid climb, sold off
sharply, and the higher rates rippled into places few had expected: Orange County, California,
whose investment pool had bet heavily on rates staying low, filed for bankruptcy in December
after losing an estimated $1.7 billion, the largest municipal bankruptcy in the country’s
history at the time. On the trade front, NAFTA took effect January 1, phasing out tariffs on
thousands of goods moving between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, the start of a schedule that
would eliminate most remaining barriers over the following decade. It was a year that showed
inflation control could have its own costs, paid out in the bond market and, in Orange County’s
case, a bankruptcy court.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 1994: $100 is worth $106 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-1994/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 1994. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-1994/