By 1993, the median household earned about $31,200, gas averaged $1.11 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $126,500. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the year, holding close to where it had settled the year before as the recovery slowly gathered strength. Washington spent much of the year on two pieces of unfinished business from the recession: a deficit-reduction package, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, that raised the top income tax rate to 39.6% to start narrowing a budget gap left over from the 1980s, and a trade deal, the North American Free Trade Agreement, that President Clinton signed into law in December after a contentious fight in Congress. NAFTA phased out most tariffs between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada and took effect the following January. The year’s other defining event had nothing to do with the economy: in February, a bomb exploded in the World Trade Center’s parking garage, killing six people and injuring more than a thousand. By year’s end, the pieces of the decade’s later economic story, freer trade, a shrinking deficit, and inflation holding near 3%, were already in place.
Year in review
Inflation in 1993
The U.S. inflation rate in 1993 was 3.0% (CPI: 144.5). Convert 1993 dollars to today →
3.0% 1993 inflation rate
3.0% 1990s average
3.3% peak month (Jan)
2.7% lowest month (Nov)
What things cost in 1993
In 1993, the median household income was $31,241, and a gallon of gas cost $1.11.
| Median household income | $31,241 |
|---|---|
| Gas (per gallon) | $1.11 |
| Median home price | $126,500 |
| First-class stamp | $0.29 |
| Federal minimum wage | $4.25 |
What $100 from 1993 was worth later
$100 from 1993 had the buying power of $230 by 2026; each milestone links to that conversion.
| In 2000 | $119 |
|---|---|
| In 2010 | $151 |
| In 2020 | $179 |
| In 2026 | $230 |
Inflation in 1993, month by month
| Month | CPI-U | 12-month rate |
|---|---|---|
| January | 142.6 | 3.3% |
| February | 143.1 | 3.2% |
| March | 143.6 | 3.1% |
| April | 144 | 3.2% |
| May | 144.2 | 3.2% |
| June | 144.4 | 3.0% |
| July | 144.4 | 2.8% |
| August | 144.8 | 2.8% |
| September | 145.1 | 2.7% |
| October | 145.7 | 2.8% |
| November | 145.8 | 2.7% |
| December | 145.8 | 2.7% |
Economic events of 1993
NAFTA is signed into law in December, linking the U.S., Mexico, and Canada; prices rose 3.0% that year.
- NAFTA is signed into law in December, linking the U.S., Mexico, and Canada President Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement on December 8 after a contentious ratification fight in Congress. The deal phased out most tariffs among the three countries and took effect January 1, 1994.
- Congress passes a major deficit-reduction package, raising top tax rates The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 raised the top individual income tax rate to 39.6% and the corporate rate to 35%, aimed at narrowing a federal budget deficit that had ballooned through the 1980s.
- A bomb explodes in the World Trade Center's parking garage in February Six people died and more than a thousand were injured in the attack, which failed in its goal of toppling one tower into the other.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (income); U.S. Census Bureau, New Residential Sales (home price); U.S. Energy Information Administration (gasoline); U.S. Department of Labor (minimum wage); USPS historical rates.
Inflation figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages. See the methodology.