$100 in 1992 is worth $148 in 2007,
because prices increased 47.8% over that period, an average of
2.64% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$148
in 2007
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
47.8%
Average inflation rate
2.64% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$148
Price difference ($100 base)
$47.78
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 2007
207.342
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 2007
2.85%
$100 in 1992 → 2007
$148
$100 in 2007 → 1992
$67.67
What happened to prices between 1992 and 2007
Between 1992 and 2007, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 207.342.
Cumulatively, prices increased 47.8%, which works out to an average of
2.64% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.68 buys in 2007: the 1992 dollar
lost 32.3% of its purchasing power over
these 15 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 2007 at the same ratio, 1.48: $1,000 becomes
$1,478, and $10,000 becomes $14,778.
Amount in 1992
Value in 2007
$1.00
$1.48
$5.00
$7.39
$10.00
$14.78
$20.00
$29.56
$50.00
$73.89
$100
$148
$500
$739
$1,000
$1,478
$5,000
$7,389
$10,000
$14,778
$100,000
$147,785
$1,000,000
$1,477,847
Inflation by spending category, 1992–2007
Between 1992 and 2007, energy rose the most, up 101.7%, while apparel fell 9.8%, against 47.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 2007, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.64%
$148
Energy
4.79%
$202
Medical care
4.17%
$185
Housing
2.85%
$152
Food
2.61%
$147
Transportation
2.55%
$146
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.42%
$143
Apparel
-0.68%
$90.22
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1992: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1992 to 2007
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.69% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.59% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1992–2007 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1992, at end
1992–2000
2.59%
22.7%
$123
2000–2007
2.69%
20.4%
$148
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1992
$100 from 1992 had already become $119 by
1999, on its way to $148 in 2007; 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 2007, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $148; the year's average CPI of 207.342 is the level
behind every 2007 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.8% in 2007, with gasoline averaging $2.80 a gallon, but the year is better
known for what began underneath prices. In August, French bank BNP Paribas froze funds tied to
U.S. subprime mortgages, and credit between banks tightened. The Federal Reserve responded with
a half-point cut on September 18, its first in four years, and took the policy rate from 5.25% to
4.25% by December. The economy peaked that month, by the National Bureau of Economic Research’s
dating, and the Great Recession followed. The median household earned about $50,200, and the
median new home cost $247,900. Congress ended the decade-long freeze on the federal minimum wage
in May, with the first of three steps to $5.85 in July. A first-class stamp cost 41 cents.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 2007: $100 is worth $148 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2007/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 2007. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2007/