$100 in 1992 is worth $131 in 2003,
because prices increased 31.1% over that period, an average of
2.50% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$131
in 2003
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
31.1%
Average inflation rate
2.50% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$131
Price difference ($100 base)
$31.15
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 2003
184
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
$100 in 1992 → 2003
$131
$100 in 2003 → 1992
$76.25
What happened to prices between 1992 and 2003
Between 1992 and 2003, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 184.
Cumulatively, prices increased 31.1%, which works out to an average of
2.50% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.76 buys in 2003: the 1992 dollar
lost 23.7% of its purchasing power over
these 11 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 2003 at the same ratio, 1.31: $1,000 becomes
$1,311, and $10,000 becomes $13,115.
Amount in 1992
Value in 2003
$1.00
$1.31
$5.00
$6.56
$10.00
$13.11
$20.00
$26.23
$50.00
$65.57
$100
$131
$500
$656
$1,000
$1,311
$5,000
$6,557
$10,000
$13,115
$100,000
$131,148
$1,000,000
$1,311,475
Inflation by spending category, 1992–2003
Between 1992 and 2003, medical care rose the most, up 56.3%, while apparel fell 8.3%, against 31.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 2003, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.50%
$131
Medical care
4.14%
$156
Housing
2.72%
$134
Energy
2.59%
$133
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.50%
$131
Food
2.45%
$131
Transportation
2.02%
$125
Apparel
-0.79%
$91.66
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1992: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1992 to 2003
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.59% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1992–2003 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1992, at end
1992–2000
2.59%
22.7%
$123
2000–2003
2.23%
6.9%
$131
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1992
$100 from 1992 had already become $114 by
1997, on its way to $131 in 2003; 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 2003, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $131; the year's average CPI of 184 is the level
behind every 2003 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.3% in 2003, up from 1.6% in 2002, as gasoline climbed from $1.36 to $1.59 a
gallon around the March invasion of Iraq. Even so, the Federal Reserve spent the year worried
about prices being too low: on June 25 it cut its policy rate to 1.0%, the lowest since 1958,
and said the risk of deflation, though small, deserved a response. The median household earned
about $43,300 and a new home cost roughly $195,000. Congress passed a second round of tax cuts
in May, and the economy grew faster in the second half of the year than at any point since
1999. Hiring lagged the recovery, and unemployment peaked at 6.3% in June. A first-class stamp
stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 2003: $100 is worth $131 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2003/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 2003. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2003/