$100 in 1966 is worth $152 in 1974,
because prices increased 52.2% over that period, an average of
5.39% a year.
$100 in 1966 has
the same buying power as
$152
in 1974
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
52.2%
Average inflation rate
5.39% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$152
Price difference ($100 base)
$52.16
CPI in 1966
32.4
CPI in 1974
49.3
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
$100 in 1966 → 1974
$152
$100 in 1974 → 1966
$65.72
What happened to prices between 1966 and 1974
Between 1966 and 1974, the Consumer Price Index went from 32.4 to 49.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 52.2%, which works out to an average of
5.39% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1966 bought what
$0.66 buys in 1974: the 1966 dollar
lost 34.3% of its purchasing power over
these 8 years.
Consumer prices rose 2.9% in 1966, nearly double 1965’s
1.6% as Vietnam War spending kept climbing without an offsetting tax
increase, pushing the economy closer to capacity and prices higher along
with it. Medicare coverage took effect that July 1, extending federal
health insurance to roughly 19 million Americans age 65 and older under
the program signed into law the year before. The Federal Reserve had
already moved to cool the overheating economy, raising its discount rate
the previous December over White House objections; the tightening carried
into 1966 as the first postwar credit crunch, freezing parts of the
housing and municipal bond markets even as inflation kept climbing. Congress widened
the wage floor’s reach that September 23, when the Fair Labor Standards
Amendments of 1966 set a $1.40 minimum wage effective the following
February and extended coverage to roughly 9 million more workers in
retail, hospitals, schools, and other services not previously covered.
Consumer prices finished 1966 227.3% above their 1913
level. First-class postage held at 5 cents, and the minimum wage stayed at
$1.25 an hour for the rest of the year.
Every 1966 amount converts to 1974 at the same ratio, 1.52: $1,000 becomes
$1,522, and $10,000 becomes $15,216.
Amount in 1966
Value in 1974
$1.00
$1.52
$5.00
$7.61
$10.00
$15.22
$20.00
$30.43
$50.00
$76.08
$100
$152
$500
$761
$1,000
$1,522
$5,000
$7,608
$10,000
$15,216
$100,000
$152,160
$1,000,000
$1,521,605
Inflation by spending category, 1966–1974
Between 1966 and 1974, energy rose the most, up 63.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 41.6%, against 52.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1966
spending costs in 1974, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1966 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.39%
$152
Energy
6.34%
$164
Food
6.30%
$163
Medical care
6.15%
$161
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.97%
$147
Transportation
4.46%
$142
Apparel
4.45%
$142
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1966: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1966 to 1974
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.17% a year, and slowest in the 1960s (4.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1966–1974 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1966, at end
1966–1970
4.61%
19.8%
$120
1970–1974
6.17%
27.1%
$152
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1966
$100 from 1966 had already become $120 by
1970, on its way to $152 in 1974; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 11.0% in 1974, and the smallest rise was 3.1% in 1967.
In 1974, prices rose 11.0% and $100 from 1966 had the buying
power of $152; the year's average CPI of 49.3 is the level
behind every 1974 figure on this page.
1974 was the year the postwar economy broke its old rules. Consumer prices
rose 11.0%, the fastest annual increase since 1947, as the Arab oil embargo
that ran from October 1973 to March 1974 roughly quadrupled the price of
crude oil worldwide. Gasoline, which had averaged 38.5 cents a gallon in
1973, jumped to 53.2 cents, and shortages forced many states into odd-even
rationing at the pump. Nixon’s wage and price controls, in place in some form
since 1971, expired at the end of April, removing the last brake on prices
just as the oil shock hit. Nixon himself resigned in August over Watergate,
and Gerald Ford’s response to inflation, a voluntary “Whip Inflation Now”
campaign built around lapel buttons, became a symbol of how little
conventional politics could do against the problem. Prices kept climbing even
as the economy weakened: a recession that started in November 1973 dragged
on, the Dow fell to a bear-market bottom of 577.60 in December, and
unemployment was already rising toward the 9% it would reach in 1975. The
combination of rising prices and a shrinking economy gave the decade its
name: stagflation.
MLA: “Inflation from 1966 to 1974: $100 is worth $152 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1974/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1966 to 1974. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1974/