$100 in 1992 is worth $116 in 1998,
because prices increased 16.2% over that period, an average of
2.53% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$116
in 1998
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
16.2%
Average inflation rate
2.53% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$116
Price difference ($100 base)
$16.18
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 1998
163
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
$100 in 1992 → 1998
$116
$100 in 1998 → 1992
$86.07
What happened to prices between 1992 and 1998
Between 1992 and 1998, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 163.
Cumulatively, prices increased 16.2%, which works out to an average of
2.53% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.86 buys in 1998: the 1992 dollar
lost 13.9% of its purchasing power over
these 6 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 1998 at the same ratio, 1.16: $1,000 becomes
$1,162, and $10,000 becomes $11,618.
Amount in 1992
Value in 1998
$1.00
$1.16
$5.00
$5.81
$10.00
$11.62
$20.00
$23.24
$50.00
$58.09
$100
$116
$500
$581
$1,000
$1,162
$5,000
$5,809
$10,000
$11,618
$100,000
$116,180
$1,000,000
$1,161,796
Inflation by spending category, 1992–1998
Between 1992 and 1998, medical care rose the most, up 27.4%, while energy fell 0.1%, against 16.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 1998, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.53%
$116
Medical care
4.11%
$127
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.76%
$118
Housing
2.60%
$117
Food
2.58%
$117
Transportation
1.90%
$112
Apparel
0.14%
$101
Energy
-0.02%
$99.90
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 $109 by
1995, on its way to $116 in 1998; 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 1.6% in 1998.
In 1998, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $116; the year's average CPI of 163 is the level
behind every 1998 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $38,900 in 1998, gas averaged just $1.06 a gallon, its
cheapest of the decade, and a new home cost roughly $152,500. Inflation ran at 1.6% for the
year, the lowest of the 1990s, as a glut of crude oil, worsened by weak demand from Asia’s
slowdown, pushed prices below $11 a barrel by December and pulled pump prices down with them.
The calm at home came alongside real turmoil abroad: in August, Russia devalued the ruble and
defaulted on its domestic debt, rattling markets already unsettled by the Asian financial
crisis, and in September the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management collapsed after its highly
leveraged bets went bad, prompting the Federal Reserve to organize a private-sector bailout by
more than a dozen banks to prevent a disorderly unwinding of its roughly $100 billion in
positions. The Fed also cut interest rates three times that fall, in September, October, and
November, an insurance policy against the global financial turmoil spreading to the U.S.
economy. Cheap oil and a well-timed set of rate cuts left 1998 as a year the U.S. economy
absorbed two foreign financial crises without much of a dent at home.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 1998: $100 is worth $116 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-1998/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 1998. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-1998/