$100 in 1992 is worth $139 in 2005,
because prices increased 39.2% over that period, an average of
2.58% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$139
in 2005
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
39.2%
Average inflation rate
2.58% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$139
Price difference ($100 base)
$39.20
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 2005
195.3
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 2005
3.39%
$100 in 1992 → 2005
$139
$100 in 2005 → 1992
$71.84
What happened to prices between 1992 and 2005
Between 1992 and 2005, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 195.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 39.2%, which works out to an average of
2.58% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.72 buys in 2005: the 1992 dollar
lost 28.2% of its purchasing power over
these 13 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 2005 at the same ratio, 1.39: $1,000 becomes
$1,392, and $10,000 becomes $13,920.
Amount in 1992
Value in 2005
$1.00
$1.39
$5.00
$6.96
$10.00
$13.92
$20.00
$27.84
$50.00
$69.60
$100
$139
$500
$696
$1,000
$1,392
$5,000
$6,960
$10,000
$13,920
$100,000
$139,202
$1,000,000
$1,392,017
Inflation by spending category, 1992–2005
Between 1992 and 2005, energy rose the most, up 71.9%, while apparel fell 9.4%, against 39.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 2005, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.58%
$139
Energy
4.26%
$172
Medical care
4.17%
$170
Housing
2.75%
$142
Food
2.52%
$138
Transportation
2.48%
$137
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.42%
$136
Apparel
-0.76%
$90.60
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1992: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1992 to 2005
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.59% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.55% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1992–2005 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1992, at end
1992–2000
2.59%
22.7%
$123
2000–2005
2.55%
13.4%
$139
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1992
$100 from 1992 had already become $116 by
1998, on its way to $139 in 2005; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.4% in 2005, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2005, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $139; the year's average CPI of 195.3 is the level
behind every 2005 figure on this page.
Inflation rose to 3.4% in 2005, up from 2.7% in 2004, as gasoline averaged $2.30 a gallon,
compared with $1.88 the year before. Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, and with
Hurricane Rita weeks later it disrupted Gulf Coast refining, pushing the national average
price past $3 in early September. The Federal Reserve raised its policy rate at every meeting,
from 2.25% to 4.25%, to keep energy costs from feeding into other prices. The median household
earned about $46,300, up 4.5% from 2004, but the median new home price rose a further 9%, to
$240,900. In April, Congress passed a bankruptcy law that made it harder to clear debts. A
first-class stamp stayed at 37 cents until January 2006, and the federal minimum wage stayed
at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 2005: $100 is worth $139 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2005/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 2005. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2005/