$100 in 1966 is worth $531 in 2000,
because prices increased 431.5% over that period, an average of
5.04% a year.
$100 in 1966 has
the same buying power as
$531
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
431.5%
Average inflation rate
5.04% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$531
Price difference ($100 base)
$431
CPI in 1966
32.4
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1966 → 2000
$531
$100 in 2000 → 1966
$18.82
What happened to prices between 1966 and 2000
Between 1966 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 32.4 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 431.5%, which works out to an average of
5.04% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1966 bought what
$0.19 buys in 2000: the 1966 dollar
lost 81.2% of its purchasing power over
these 34 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 2000 at the same ratio, 5.31: $1,000 becomes
$5,315, and $10,000 becomes $53,148.
Amount in 1966
Value in 2000
$1.00
$5.31
$5.00
$26.57
$10.00
$53.15
$20.00
$106
$50.00
$266
$100
$531
$500
$2,657
$1,000
$5,315
$5,000
$26,574
$10,000
$53,148
$100,000
$531,481
$1,000,000
$5,314,815
Inflation by spending category, 1966–2000
Between 1966 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 891.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 164.5%, against 431.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1966
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1966 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.04%
$531
Medical care
6.98%
$992
Core (all items less food & energy)
5.09%
$541
Energy
5.05%
$535
Food
4.83%
$496
Transportation
4.69%
$475
Apparel
2.90%
$264
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1966: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1966 to 2000
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1966–2000 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$531
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1966
$100 from 1966 had already become $298 by
1982, on its way to $531 in 2000; 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 1.6% in 1998.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2000
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1966 had the buying
power of $531; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1966 to 2000: $100 is worth $531 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1966 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-2000/