$100 in 1992 is worth $109 in 1995,
because prices increased 8.6% over that period, an average of
2.80% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$109
in 1995
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
8.6%
Average inflation rate
2.80% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$109
Price difference ($100 base)
$8.62
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 1995
152.4
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
$100 in 1992 → 1995
$109
$100 in 1995 → 1992
$92.06
What happened to prices between 1992 and 1995
Between 1992 and 1995, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 152.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 8.6%, which works out to an average of
2.80% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.92 buys in 1995: the 1992 dollar
lost 7.9% of its purchasing power over
these 3 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 1995 at the same ratio, 1.09: $1,000 becomes
$1,086, and $10,000 becomes $10,862.
Amount in 1992
Value in 1995
$1.00
$1.09
$5.00
$5.43
$10.00
$10.86
$20.00
$21.72
$50.00
$54.31
$100
$109
$500
$543
$1,000
$1,086
$5,000
$5,431
$10,000
$10,862
$100,000
$108,624
$1,000,000
$1,086,244
Inflation by spending category, 1992–1995
Between 1992 and 1995, medical care rose the most, up 16.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 0.1%, against 8.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 1995, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.80%
$109
Medical care
5.07%
$116
Transportation
3.22%
$110
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.05%
$109
Housing
2.60%
$108
Food
2.48%
$108
Energy
0.71%
$102
Apparel
0.03%
$100
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 $109 in 1995; 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 1995, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $109; the year's average CPI of 152.4 is the level
behind every 1995 figure on this page.
In 1995, gas averaged $1.15 a gallon, a new home cost roughly $133,900, and the median household
earned about $34,100. Inflation ran at 2.8% for the year, little changed from 1994, as the
Federal Reserve shifted from raising rates to cutting them. Having lifted its policy rate six
times the year before, the Fed judged by July that the economy had cooled enough on its own, and
trimmed rates instead, an outcome economists would later point to as a rare soft landing. The
year opened with a currency crisis: Mexico’s peso lost roughly half its value against the dollar
in a matter of weeks, and the U.S. Treasury and the IMF assembled a $50 billion rescue package,
controversial in Congress, to stabilize it and keep the crisis from spreading to other emerging
markets. Closer to home, a budget standoff between President Clinton and the Republican Congress
shut down federal agencies twice, first for five days in November and then for 21 days spanning
December into January 1996, the longest shutdown up to that point. The Postal Service raised the
cost of a first-class stamp to 32 cents in January. Low, steady inflation was about the only calm
part of 1995’s economic story.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 1995: $100 is worth $109 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-1995/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 1995. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-1995/