$100 in 1992 is worth $217 in 2023,
because prices increased 117.2% over that period, an average of
2.53% a year.
$100 in 1992 has
the same buying power as
$217
in 2023
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
117.2%
Average inflation rate
2.53% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$217
Price difference ($100 base)
$117
CPI in 1992
140.3
CPI in 2023
304.702
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
Inflation in 2023
4.12%
$100 in 1992 → 2023
$217
$100 in 2023 → 1992
$46.04
What happened to prices between 1992 and 2023
Between 1992 and 2023, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 304.702.
Cumulatively, prices increased 117.2%, which works out to an average of
2.53% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what
$0.46 buys in 2023: the 1992 dollar
lost 54.0% of its purchasing power over
these 31 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 2023 at the same ratio, 2.17: $1,000 becomes
$2,172, and $10,000 becomes $21,718.
Amount in 1992
Value in 2023
$1.00
$2.17
$5.00
$10.86
$10.00
$21.72
$20.00
$43.44
$50.00
$109
$100
$217
$500
$1,086
$1,000
$2,172
$5,000
$10,859
$10,000
$21,718
$100,000
$217,179
$1,000,000
$2,171,789
Inflation by spending category, 1992–2023
Between 1992 and 2023, medical care rose the most, up 188.8%, while apparel fell 1.0%, against 117.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1992
spending costs in 2023, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1992 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.53%
$217
Medical care
3.48%
$289
Energy
3.32%
$275
Food
2.78%
$234
Housing
2.76%
$233
Transportation
2.44%
$211
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.41%
$209
Apparel
-0.03%
$99.00
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1992: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1992 to 2023
Prices climbed fastest in the 2020s, averaging 5.59% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1992–2023 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$184
2020–2023
5.59%
17.7%
$217
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1992
$100 from 1992 had already become $153 by
2008, on its way to $217 in 2023; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 8.0% in 2022, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2023
In 2023, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1992 had the buying
power of $217; the year's average CPI of 304.702 is the level
behind every 2023 figure on this page.
2023 was the year inflation came down without a recession. Consumer prices
rose 4.1% on average, roughly half of 2022’s 8.0%, and the December-to-December
rate fell to 3.4%. Gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon, well below the 2022
average, and supply-chain pressure on goods eased. Shelter, restaurant meals,
and other services stayed expensive, so the CPI kept rising at a rate well
above the pre-pandemic pace.
The Federal Reserve completed its rate-hiking campaign in July, taking the
policy rate to 5.25–5.50%, the highest level in 22 years. The effects showed
up in banking: Silicon Valley Bank failed in March after rate increases eroded
the value of its bond portfolio, the second-largest bank failure in U.S.
history at the time. Despite that, unemployment stayed under 4% all year.
Median household income was $80,610 according to the Census Bureau. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp rose to 66 cents
in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1992 to 2023: $100 is worth $217 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2023/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1992 to 2023. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1992-to-2023/