$100 in 1966 is worth $665 in 2008,
because prices increased 564.5% over that period, an average of
4.61% a year.
$100 in 1966 has
the same buying power as
$665
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
564.5%
Average inflation rate
4.61% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$665
Price difference ($100 base)
$565
CPI in 1966
32.4
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1966 → 2008
$665
$100 in 2008 → 1966
$15.05
What happened to prices between 1966 and 2008
Between 1966 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 32.4 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 564.5%, which works out to an average of
4.61% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1966 bought what
$0.15 buys in 2008: the 1966 dollar
lost 85.0% of its purchasing power over
these 42 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 2008 at the same ratio, 6.65: $1,000 becomes
$6,645, and $10,000 becomes $66,452.
Amount in 1966
Value in 2008
$1.00
$6.65
$5.00
$33.23
$10.00
$66.45
$20.00
$133
$50.00
$332
$100
$665
$500
$3,323
$1,000
$6,645
$5,000
$33,226
$10,000
$66,452
$100,000
$664,515
$1,000,000
$6,645,154
Inflation by spending category, 1966–2008
Between 1966 and 2008, medical care rose the most, up 1284.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 142.7%, against 564.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1966
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1966 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.61%
$665
Medical care
6.46%
$1,384
Energy
5.67%
$1,016
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.53%
$643
Food
4.49%
$633
Transportation
4.38%
$605
Apparel
2.13%
$243
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1966: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1966 to 2008
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 1966–2008 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
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$665
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1966
$100 from 1966 had already become $338 by
1986, on its way to $665 in 2008; 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: 2008
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1966 had the buying
power of $665; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1966 to 2008: $100 is worth $665 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1966 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-2008/