$100 in 1966 is worth $403 in 1990,
because prices increased 303.4% over that period, an average of
5.98% a year.
$100 in 1966 has
the same buying power as
$403
in 1990
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
303.4%
Average inflation rate
5.98% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$403
Price difference ($100 base)
$303
CPI in 1966
32.4
CPI in 1990
130.7
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
$100 in 1966 → 1990
$403
$100 in 1990 → 1966
$24.79
What happened to prices between 1966 and 1990
Between 1966 and 1990, the Consumer Price Index went from 32.4 to 130.7.
Cumulatively, prices increased 303.4%, which works out to an average of
5.98% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1966 bought what
$0.25 buys in 1990: the 1966 dollar
lost 75.2% of its purchasing power over
these 24 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 1990 at the same ratio, 4.03: $1,000 becomes
$4,034, and $10,000 becomes $40,340.
Amount in 1966
Value in 1990
$1.00
$4.03
$5.00
$20.17
$10.00
$40.34
$20.00
$80.68
$50.00
$202
$100
$403
$500
$2,017
$1,000
$4,034
$5,000
$20,170
$10,000
$40,340
$100,000
$403,395
$1,000,000
$4,033,951
Inflation by spending category, 1966–1990
Between 1966 and 1990, medical care rose the most, up 519.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 153.3%, against 303.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1966
spending costs in 1990, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1966 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.98%
$403
Medical care
7.89%
$619
Energy
6.35%
$438
Core (all items less food & energy)
6.00%
$404
Food
5.85%
$392
Transportation
5.64%
$373
Apparel
3.95%
$253
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1966: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1966 to 1990
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 1966–1990 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$403
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1966
$100 from 1966 had already become $201 by
1978, on its way to $403 in 1990; 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 1990, prices rose 5.4% and $100 from 1966 had the buying
power of $403; the year's average CPI of 130.7 is the level
behind every 1990 figure on this page.
In 1990, the median U.S. household earned about $29,900, gas averaged $1.15 a
gallon, and mailing a letter cost a quarter. Inflation ran hot at 5.4% for the
year, its highest rate since 1982, pushed up by an oil shock after Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait, and the economy tipped into recession that summer. It was
the last gasp of elevated inflation before the long calm of the 1990s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1966 to 1990: $100 is worth $403 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1990/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1966 to 1990. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-1990/