$100 in 1966 is worth $338 in 1986,
because prices increased 238.3% over that period, an average of
6.28% a year.
$100 in 1966 has
the same buying power as
$338
in 1986
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
238.3%
Average inflation rate
6.28% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$338
Price difference ($100 base)
$238
CPI in 1966
32.4
CPI in 1986
109.6
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
Inflation in 1986
1.86%
$100 in 1966 → 1986
$338
$100 in 1986 → 1966
$29.56
What happened to prices between 1966 and 1986
Between 1966 and 1986, the Consumer Price Index went from 32.4 to 109.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 238.3%, which works out to an average of
6.28% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1966 bought what
$0.30 buys in 1986: the 1966 dollar
lost 70.4% of its purchasing power over
these 20 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 1986 at the same ratio, 3.38: $1,000 becomes
$3,383, and $10,000 becomes $33,827.
Amount in 1966
Value in 1986
$1.00
$3.38
$5.00
$16.91
$10.00
$33.83
$20.00
$67.65
$50.00
$169
$100
$338
$500
$1,691
$1,000
$3,383
$5,000
$16,914
$10,000
$33,827
$100,000
$338,272
$1,000,000
$3,382,716
Inflation by spending category, 1966–1986
Between 1966 and 1986, medical care rose the most, up 363.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 116.1%, against 238.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1966
spending costs in 1986, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1966 →
All items (CPI-U)
6.28%
$338
Medical care
7.97%
$464
Energy
6.88%
$379
Core (all items less food & energy)
6.29%
$339
Food
6.03%
$322
Transportation
5.93%
$317
Apparel
3.93%
$216
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1966: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1966 to 1986
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 1966–1986 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
1980–1986
4.87%
33.0%
$338
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1966
$100 from 1966 had already become $176 by
1976, on its way to $338 in 1986; 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 1.9% in 1986.
In 1986, prices rose 1.9% and $100 from 1966 had the buying
power of $338; the year's average CPI of 109.6 is the level
behind every 1986 figure on this page.
1986 delivered the decade’s biggest one-year drop in inflation, and it came
almost entirely from a single source: oil. Saudi Arabia abandoned its policy
of restraining output to prop up prices, and world crude collapsed from
about $27 a barrel to under $10 by midyear. Gasoline, which had averaged
$1.12 a gallon in 1985, fell to 86 cents. With energy costs plunging,
headline CPI inflation for the year came in at just 1.9%, the lowest annual
rate since 1965 and a striking bookend to 1980’s 13.5% peak. The relief was
uneven: prices for most goods and services outside energy kept rising at a
moderate pace, so households that didn’t drive much or heat with oil felt
less of the difference. In October, Congress passed the Tax Reform Act of
1986, a bipartisan overhaul that cut the top individual income tax rate from
50% to 28% while closing many deductions and shelters, the broadest rewrite
of the federal tax code since World War II. Between cheap gas and falling
interest rates, 1986 read like proof that the inflationary 1970s were a
closed chapter, six years after the U.S. economy had felt anything but
calm.
MLA: “Inflation from 1966 to 1986: $100 is worth $338 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1986/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1966 to 1986. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1986/