$100 in 1966 is worth $365 in 1988,
because prices increased 265.1% over that period, an average of
6.06% a year.
$100 in 1966 has
the same buying power as
$365
in 1988
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
265.1%
Average inflation rate
6.06% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$365
Price difference ($100 base)
$265
CPI in 1966
32.4
CPI in 1988
118.3
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
$100 in 1966 → 1988
$365
$100 in 1988 → 1966
$27.39
What happened to prices between 1966 and 1988
Between 1966 and 1988, the Consumer Price Index went from 32.4 to 118.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 265.1%, which works out to an average of
6.06% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1966 bought what
$0.27 buys in 1988: the 1966 dollar
lost 72.6% of its purchasing power over
these 22 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 1988 at the same ratio, 3.65: $1,000 becomes
$3,651, and $10,000 becomes $36,512.
Amount in 1966
Value in 1988
$1.00
$3.65
$5.00
$18.26
$10.00
$36.51
$20.00
$73.02
$50.00
$183
$100
$365
$500
$1,826
$1,000
$3,651
$5,000
$18,256
$10,000
$36,512
$100,000
$365,123
$1,000,000
$3,651,235
Inflation by spending category, 1966–1988
Between 1966 and 1988, medical care rose the most, up 427.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 135.5%, against 265.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1966
spending costs in 1988, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1966 →
All items (CPI-U)
6.06%
$365
Medical care
7.85%
$527
Energy
6.30%
$383
Core (all items less food & energy)
6.11%
$368
Food
5.86%
$350
Transportation
5.67%
$337
Apparel
3.97%
$236
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1966: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1966 to 1988
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 1966–1988 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
1980–1988
4.62%
43.6%
$365
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1966
$100 from 1966 had already become $187 by
1977, on its way to $365 in 1988; 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 1988, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1966 had the buying
power of $365; the year's average CPI of 118.3 is the level
behind every 1988 figure on this page.
By 1988, the economic expansion that began in the ashes of the 1981-82
recession was in its sixth year, and the Federal Reserve was watching for
signs it had run too long. Inflation rose to 4.1%, up from 3.6% the year
before, while unemployment fell to its lowest level since 1974. Alan
Greenspan’s Fed responded by raising the federal funds rate through the
year, from about 6.5% to 8.5%, trying to cool demand before prices
accelerated the way they had in the 1970s. Households still felt the
difference between this expansion and the last one: gas held near 90 cents
a gallon, almost exactly its 1987 price, and median household income rose
to roughly $27,200. The one price that moved was postage, which rose from
22 to 25 cents in April, the fourth increase of the decade but a far
gentler pace than the string of increases in the late 1970s and early
1980s. In November, Vice President George H.W. Bush won the presidency on
the strength of the expansion, promising in his nomination speech to hold
the line on taxes. Both the boom and that pledge would run into trouble
within two years, as the Fed’s rate increases helped tip the economy toward
the 1990-91 recession.
MLA: “Inflation from 1966 to 1988: $100 is worth $365 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1988/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1966 to 1988. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1988/