$100 in 1992 is worth $179 in 2018,
because prices increased 79.0% over that period, an average of
2.26% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$179
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
79.0%
Average inflation rate
2.26% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$179
Price difference ($100 base)
$78.98
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 1992 → 2018
$179
$100 in 2018 → 1992
$55.87
What happened to prices between 1992 and 2018
Between 1992 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 79.0%, which works out to an average of
2.26% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.56 buys in 2018: the 1992 dollar
lost 44.1% of its purchasing power over
these 26 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 2018 at the same ratio, 1.79: $1,000 becomes
$1,790, and $10,000 becomes $17,898.
Amount in 1992
Value in 2018
$1.00
$1.79
$5.00
$8.95
$10.00
$17.90
$20.00
$35.80
$50.00
$89.49
$100
$179
$500
$895
$1,000
$1,790
$5,000
$8,949
$10,000
$17,898
$100,000
$178,979
$1,000,000
$1,789,786
Inflation by spending category, 1992–2018
Between 1992 and 2018, medical care rose the most, up 155.0%, while apparel fell 4.7%, against 79.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.26%
$179
Medical care
3.67%
$255
Energy
2.96%
$214
Housing
2.46%
$188
Food
2.37%
$184
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.17%
$175
Transportation
1.98%
$167
Apparel
-0.19%
$95.26
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1992: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1992 to 2018
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.59% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1992–2018 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
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$179
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1992
$100 from 1992 had already become $139 by
2005, on its way to $179 in 2018; 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 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $179; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 2018: $100 is worth $179 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2018/