$100 in 1966 is worth $351 in 1987,
because prices increased 250.6% over that period, an average of
6.16% a year.
$100 in 1966 has
the same buying power as
$351
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
250.6%
Average inflation rate
6.16% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$351
Price difference ($100 base)
$251
CPI in 1966
32.4
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1966 → 1987
$351
$100 in 1987 → 1966
$28.52
What happened to prices between 1966 and 1987
Between 1966 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 32.4 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 250.6%, which works out to an average of
6.16% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1966 bought what
$0.29 buys in 1987: the 1966 dollar
lost 71.5% of its purchasing power over
these 21 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 1987 at the same ratio, 3.51: $1,000 becomes
$3,506, and $10,000 becomes $35,062.
Amount in 1966
Value in 1987
$1.00
$3.51
$5.00
$17.53
$10.00
$35.06
$20.00
$70.12
$50.00
$175
$100
$351
$500
$1,753
$1,000
$3,506
$5,000
$17,531
$10,000
$35,062
$100,000
$350,617
$1,000,000
$3,506,173
Inflation by spending category, 1966–1987
Between 1966 and 1987, medical care rose the most, up 394.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 125.7%, against 250.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1966
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1966 →
All items (CPI-U)
6.16%
$351
Medical care
7.91%
$495
Energy
6.57%
$380
Core (all items less food & energy)
6.19%
$353
Food
5.94%
$336
Transportation
5.79%
$326
Apparel
3.95%
$226
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1966: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1966 to 1987
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 1966–1987 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
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$351
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1966
$100 from 1966 had already become $176 by
1976, on its way to $351 in 1987; 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 1987, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1966 had the buying
power of $351; the year's average CPI of 113.6 is the level
behind every 1987 figure on this page.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
MLA: “Inflation from 1966 to 1987: $100 is worth $351 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1966 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1987/