Value of $100 in 1992, adjusted to 2026

What happened to prices between 1992 and 2026

Between 1992 and 2026, the Consumer Price Index went from 140.3 to 332.243. Cumulatively, prices increased 136.8%, which works out to an average of 2.57% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1992 bought what $0.42 buys in 2026: the 1992 dollar lost 57.8% of its purchasing power over these 34 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.

More about inflation in 1992 →

The destination year: 2026

In 2026, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 1992 had the buying power of $237; the year's average CPI of 332.243 is the level behind every 2026 figure on this page.