$100 in 1966 is worth $281 in 1981,
because prices increased 180.6% over that period, an average of
7.12% a year.
$100 in 1966 has
the same buying power as
$281
in 1981
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
180.6%
Average inflation rate
7.12% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$281
Price difference ($100 base)
$181
CPI in 1966
32.4
CPI in 1981
90.9
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
Inflation in 1981
10.32%
$100 in 1966 → 1981
$281
$100 in 1981 → 1966
$35.64
What happened to prices between 1966 and 1981
Between 1966 and 1981, the Consumer Price Index went from 32.4 to 90.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 180.6%, which works out to an average of
7.12% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1966 bought what
$0.36 buys in 1981: the 1966 dollar
lost 64.4% of its purchasing power over
these 15 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 1981 at the same ratio, 2.81: $1,000 becomes
$2,806, and $10,000 becomes $28,056.
Amount in 1966
Value in 1981
$1.00
$2.81
$5.00
$14.03
$10.00
$28.06
$20.00
$56.11
$50.00
$140
$100
$281
$500
$1,403
$1,000
$2,806
$5,000
$14,028
$10,000
$28,056
$100,000
$280,556
$1,000,000
$2,805,556
Inflation by spending category, 1966–1981
Between 1966 and 1981, energy rose the most, up 319.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 94.5%, against 180.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1966
spending costs in 1981, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1966 →
All items (CPI-U)
7.12%
$281
Energy
10.03%
$419
Medical care
7.95%
$315
Transportation
7.32%
$289
Food
7.03%
$277
Core (all items less food & energy)
6.75%
$266
Apparel
4.53%
$194
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1966: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1966 to 1981
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 10.32% a year, and slowest in the 1960s (4.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1966–1981 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
1980–1981
10.32%
10.3%
$281
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1966
$100 from 1966 had already become $137 by
1973, on its way to $281 in 1981; 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 1981, prices rose 10.3% and $100 from 1966 had the buying
power of $281; the year's average CPI of 90.9 is the level
behind every 1981 figure on this page.
1981 was the year the inflation fever finally broke, at an extraordinary price.
Consumer prices rose 10.3%, the second year of back-to-back double-digit
inflation and the last time the U.S. would see one. To end it, Paul Volcker’s
Federal Reserve drove its policy rate above 19% and let borrowing costs go
where they may: a 30-year mortgage cost more than 18% by autumn, car loans and
business credit froze, and homebuilders mailed the Fed two-by-fours in protest.
The squeeze tipped the economy into recession in July, the deep 1981–82
downturn that would push unemployment past 10%. But it worked. Inflation fell
by nearly half within a year and to under 4% by 1983, the disinflation that
defined the following two decades. Even the price of mailing a letter told the
year’s story: postage went up twice in eight months.
MLA: “Inflation from 1966 to 1981: $100 is worth $281 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1981/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1966 to 1981. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1981/