$100 in 1992 is worth $182 in 2019,
because prices increased 82.2% over that period, an average of
2.25% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$182
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
82.2%
Average inflation rate
2.25% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$182
Price difference ($100 base)
$82.22
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 1992 → 2019
$182
$100 in 2019 → 1992
$54.88
What happened to prices between 1992 and 2019
Between 1992 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 82.2%, which works out to an average of
2.25% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.55 buys in 2019: the 1992 dollar
lost 45.1% of its purchasing power over
these 27 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 2019 at the same ratio, 1.82: $1,000 becomes
$1,822, and $10,000 becomes $18,222.
Amount in 1992
Value in 2019
$1.00
$1.82
$5.00
$9.11
$10.00
$18.22
$20.00
$36.44
$50.00
$91.11
$100
$182
$500
$911
$1,000
$1,822
$5,000
$9,111
$10,000
$18,222
$100,000
$182,222
$1,000,000
$1,822,217
Inflation by spending category, 1992–2019
Between 1992 and 2019, medical care rose the most, up 162.2%, while apparel fell 5.9%, against 82.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.25%
$182
Medical care
3.63%
$262
Energy
2.77%
$209
Housing
2.47%
$193
Food
2.35%
$187
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.17%
$179
Transportation
1.90%
$166
Apparel
-0.23%
$94.05
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1992: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1992 to 2019
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 1992–2019 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
2010–2019
1.78%
17.2%
$182
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1992
$100 from 1992 had already become $139 by
2005, on its way to $182 in 2019; 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 2019, prices rose 1.8% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $182; the year's average CPI of 255.657 is the level
behind every 2019 figure on this page.
2019 was the last ordinary year before COVID-19. Consumer prices rose 1.8%,
slightly under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with gasoline averaging
$2.60 a gallon. Median household income jumped to $68,703, the highest on
record up to that point, and the median new home sold for about $328,000. A
first-class stamp rose to 55 cents.
The Fed reversed course. After four increases in 2018, it cut rates three
times, to 1.50–1.75%, citing slower global growth, trade tensions, and low
inflation. In July the expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in
U.S. records, and in August the yield curve briefly inverted, a signal
investors read as a recession warning.
For workers at the bottom of the pay scale, 2019 marked a milestone of a
different kind. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and reached its tenth
year without an increase, the longest gap since the wage was first set. Because
prices had climbed about 19% since it was last raised in 2009, its buying power
was lower than at any point in that span.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 2019: $100 is worth $182 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2019/