$100 in 1992 is worth $128 in 2002,
because prices increased 28.2% over that period, an average of
2.52% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$128
in 2002
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
28.2%
Average inflation rate
2.52% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$128
Price difference ($100 base)
$28.23
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 2002
179.9
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
$100 in 1992 → 2002
$128
$100 in 2002 → 1992
$77.99
What happened to prices between 1992 and 2002
Between 1992 and 2002, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 179.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 28.2%, which works out to an average of
2.52% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.78 buys in 2002: the 1992 dollar
lost 22.0% of its purchasing power over
these 10 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 2002 at the same ratio, 1.28: $1,000 becomes
$1,282, and $10,000 becomes $12,823.
Amount in 1992
Value in 2002
$1.00
$1.28
$5.00
$6.41
$10.00
$12.82
$20.00
$25.65
$50.00
$64.11
$100
$128
$500
$641
$1,000
$1,282
$5,000
$6,411
$10,000
$12,823
$100,000
$128,225
$1,000,000
$1,282,252
Inflation by spending category, 1992–2002
Between 1992 and 2002, medical care rose the most, up 50.2%, while apparel fell 6.0%, against 28.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 2002, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.52%
$128
Medical care
4.15%
$150
Housing
2.75%
$131
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.61%
$129
Food
2.48%
$128
Transportation
1.91%
$121
Energy
1.68%
$118
Apparel
-0.62%
$94.01
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1992: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1992 to 2002
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.59% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.21% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1992–2002 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1992, at end
1992–2000
2.59%
22.7%
$123
2000–2002
2.21%
4.5%
$128
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1992
$100 from 1992 had already become $114 by
1997, on its way to $128 in 2002; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.4% in 2000, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2002, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $128; the year's average CPI of 179.9 is the level
behind every 2002 figure on this page.
The CPI rose 1.6% in 2002, the lowest annual rate of the decade so far, with gasoline down to an
average of $1.36 a gallon and slack in the labor market keeping wage pressure low. The median
household earned about $42,400, and a new home cost roughly $187,600, an increase of about 7%
from the year before as low mortgage rates began to lift housing. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate to 1.25% in November. Stocks were moving the other way: after the Enron and WorldCom
scandals, the S&P 500 hit its bear-market low on October 9, about 49% below its March 2000
peak, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July to tighten corporate accounting rules.
On January 1, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 European countries. A
first-class stamp rose to 37 cents in June, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 2002: $100 is worth $128 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2002/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 2002. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2002/