$100 in 1992 is worth $112 in 1996,
because prices increased 11.8% over that period, an average of
2.84% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$112
in 1996
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
11.8%
Average inflation rate
2.84% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$112
Price difference ($100 base)
$11.83
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 1996
156.9
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
$100 in 1992 → 1996
$112
$100 in 1996 → 1992
$89.42
What happened to prices between 1992 and 1996
Between 1992 and 1996, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 156.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 11.8%, which works out to an average of
2.84% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.89 buys in 1996: the 1992 dollar
lost 10.6% of its purchasing power over
these 4 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 1996 at the same ratio, 1.12: $1,000 becomes
$1,118, and $10,000 becomes $11,183.
Amount in 1992
Value in 1996
$1.00
$1.12
$5.00
$5.59
$10.00
$11.18
$20.00
$22.37
$50.00
$55.92
$100
$112
$500
$559
$1,000
$1,118
$5,000
$5,592
$10,000
$11,183
$100,000
$111,832
$1,000,000
$1,118,318
Inflation by spending category, 1992–1996
Between 1992 and 1996, medical care rose the most, up 20.0%, while apparel fell 0.2%, against 11.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 1996, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.84%
$112
Medical care
4.67%
$120
Transportation
3.11%
$113
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.97%
$112
Food
2.68%
$111
Housing
2.67%
$111
Energy
1.68%
$107
Apparel
-0.04%
$99.85
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 $106 by
1994, on its way to $112 in 1996; 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 1996, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $112; the year's average CPI of 156.9 is the level
behind every 1996 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $35,500 in 1996, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, up noticeably
from the mid-decade lull, and a new home cost roughly $140,000. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the
year, ticking back up from 1995 as energy prices firmed. Washington passed two of the decade’s
more consequential laws that year: in February, the Telecommunications Act rewrote the rules for
phone, cable, and broadcast media for the first time since 1934, opening local markets to
competition and easing ownership limits; in August, a welfare overhaul ended the federal
guarantee of cash assistance, replacing it with block grants to states and time limits on
benefits. In October, the federal minimum wage rose to $4.75 an hour, its first increase in five
years and the opening step of a two-part law that would take it to $5.15 the following
September. Two sweeping new laws and a minimum wage finally on the move again made 1996 a year
that changed more about how the economy was governed than about how fast prices moved.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 1996: $100 is worth $112 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-1996/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 1996. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-1996/