$100 in 1966 is worth $254 in 1980,
because prices increased 154.3% over that period, an average of
6.89% a year.
$100 in 1966 has
the same buying power as
$254
in 1980
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
154.3%
Average inflation rate
6.89% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$254
Price difference ($100 base)
$154
CPI in 1966
32.4
CPI in 1980
82.4
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
Inflation in 1980
13.50%
$100 in 1966 → 1980
$254
$100 in 1980 → 1966
$39.32
What happened to prices between 1966 and 1980
Between 1966 and 1980, the Consumer Price Index went from 32.4 to 82.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 154.3%, which works out to an average of
6.89% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1966 bought what
$0.39 buys in 1980: the 1966 dollar
lost 60.7% of its purchasing power over
these 14 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 1980 at the same ratio, 2.54: $1,000 becomes
$2,543, and $10,000 becomes $25,432.
Amount in 1966
Value in 1980
$1.00
$2.54
$5.00
$12.72
$10.00
$25.43
$20.00
$50.86
$50.00
$127
$100
$254
$500
$1,272
$1,000
$2,543
$5,000
$12,716
$10,000
$25,432
$100,000
$254,321
$1,000,000
$2,543,210
Inflation by spending category, 1966–1980
Between 1966 and 1980, energy rose the most, up 269.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 85.5%, against 154.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1966
spending costs in 1980, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1966 →
All items (CPI-U)
6.89%
$254
Energy
9.78%
$369
Medical care
7.76%
$285
Transportation
6.98%
$257
Food
6.97%
$257
Core (all items less food & energy)
6.49%
$241
Apparel
4.51%
$186
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1966: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1966 to 1980
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1960s (4.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1966–1980 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1966, at end
1966–1970
4.61%
19.8%
$120
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$254
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1966
$100 from 1966 had already become $137 by
1973, on its way to $254 in 1980; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 13.5% in 1980, and the smallest rise was 3.1% in 1967.
In 1980, prices rose 13.5% and $100 from 1966 had the buying
power of $254; the year's average CPI of 82.4 is the level
behind every 1980 figure on this page.
1980 sat at the very peak of the Great Inflation. Prices rose 13.5% in that
single year, mortgage rates were climbing toward 16%, and the Federal Reserve
under Paul Volcker was administering the painful interest-rate medicine that
would finally break the inflationary spiral, at the cost of the deep 1981–82
recession. No single year looms larger in how Americans think about inflation.
MLA: “Inflation from 1966 to 1980: $100 is worth $254 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1980/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1966 to 1980. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1980/