$100 in 1992 is worth $169 in 2014,
because prices increased 68.7% over that period, an average of
2.41% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$169
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
68.7%
Average inflation rate
2.41% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$169
Price difference ($100 base)
$68.74
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1992 → 2014
$169
$100 in 2014 → 1992
$59.26
What happened to prices between 1992 and 2014
Between 1992 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 68.7%, which works out to an average of
2.41% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.59 buys in 2014: the 1992 dollar
lost 40.7% of its purchasing power over
these 22 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 2014 at the same ratio, 1.69: $1,000 becomes
$1,687, and $10,000 becomes $16,874.
Amount in 1992
Value in 2014
$1.00
$1.69
$5.00
$8.44
$10.00
$16.87
$20.00
$33.75
$50.00
$84.37
$100
$169
$500
$844
$1,000
$1,687
$5,000
$8,437
$10,000
$16,874
$100,000
$168,736
$1,000,000
$1,687,356
Inflation by spending category, 1992–2014
Between 1992 and 2014, energy rose the most, up 136.5%, while apparel fell 3.3%, against 68.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.41%
$169
Energy
3.99%
$236
Medical care
3.84%
$229
Food
2.60%
$176
Transportation
2.46%
$171
Housing
2.43%
$170
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.20%
$162
Apparel
-0.15%
$96.67
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1992: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1992 to 2014
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.59% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1992–2014 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1992, at end
1992–2000
2.59%
22.7%
$123
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$155
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$169
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1992
$100 from 1992 had already become $131 by
2003, on its way to $169 in 2014; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.8% in 2008, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $169; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 2014: $100 is worth $169 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2014/