  Nuclear level densities (NLDs) and $\gamma$-ray strength functions
($\gamma$SFs) have been extracted from particle-$\gamma$ coincidences of the
$^{92}$Zr($p,p' \gamma$)$^{92}$Zr and $^{92}$Zr($p,d \gamma$)$^{91}$Zr
reactions using the Oslo method. The new $^{91,92}$Zr $\gamma$SF data, combined
with photonuclear cross sections, cover the whole energy range from $E_{\gamma}
\approx 1.5$~MeV up to the giant dipole resonance at $E_{\gamma} \approx
17$~MeV. The wide-range $\gamma$SF data display structures at $E_{\gamma}
\approx 9.5$~MeV, compatible with a superposition of the spin-flip $M1$
resonance and a pygmy $E1$ resonance. Furthermore, the $\gamma$SF shows a
minimum at $E_{\gamma} \approx 2-3$~MeV and an increase at lower $\gamma$-ray
energies. The experimentally constrained NLDs and $\gamma$SFs are shown to
reproduce known ($n, \gamma$) and Maxwellian-averaged cross sections for
$^{91,92}$Zr using the {\sf TALYS} reaction code, thus serving as a benchmark
for this indirect method of estimating ($n, \gamma$) cross sections for Zr
isotopes.
