$100 in 1992 is worth $169 in 2015,
because prices increased 68.9% over that period, an average of
2.31% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$169
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
68.9%
Average inflation rate
2.31% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$169
Price difference ($100 base)
$68.94
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 1992 → 2015
$169
$100 in 2015 → 1992
$59.19
What happened to prices between 1992 and 2015
Between 1992 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 68.9%, which works out to an average of
2.31% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.59 buys in 2015: the 1992 dollar
lost 40.8% of its purchasing power over
these 23 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 2015 at the same ratio, 1.69: $1,000 becomes
$1,689, and $10,000 becomes $16,894.
Amount in 1992
Value in 2015
$1.00
$1.69
$5.00
$8.45
$10.00
$16.89
$20.00
$33.79
$50.00
$84.47
$100
$169
$500
$845
$1,000
$1,689
$5,000
$8,447
$10,000
$16,894
$100,000
$168,936
$1,000,000
$1,689,359
Inflation by spending category, 1992–2015
Between 1992 and 2015, medical care rose the most, up 135.0%, while apparel fell 4.5%, against 68.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.31%
$169
Medical care
3.78%
$235
Energy
2.99%
$197
Food
2.57%
$179
Housing
2.42%
$173
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.19%
$164
Transportation
1.99%
$157
Apparel
-0.20%
$95.45
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1992: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1992 to 2015
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.59% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.68% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1992–2015 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
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$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 2015; 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 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $169; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 2015: $100 is worth $169 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2015/