$100 in 1966 is worth $673 in 2010,
because prices increased 573.0% over that period, an average of
4.43% a year.
$100 in 1966 has
the same buying power as
$673
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
573.0%
Average inflation rate
4.43% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$673
Price difference ($100 base)
$573
CPI in 1966
32.4
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 1966 → 2010
$673
$100 in 2010 → 1966
$14.86
What happened to prices between 1966 and 2010
Between 1966 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 32.4 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 573.0%, which works out to an average of
4.43% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1966 bought what
$0.15 buys in 2010: the 1966 dollar
lost 85.1% of its purchasing power over
these 44 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 2010 at the same ratio, 6.73: $1,000 becomes
$6,730, and $10,000 becomes $67,301.
Amount in 1966
Value in 2010
$1.00
$6.73
$5.00
$33.65
$10.00
$67.30
$20.00
$135
$50.00
$337
$100
$673
$500
$3,365
$1,000
$6,730
$5,000
$33,651
$10,000
$67,301
$100,000
$673,012
$1,000,000
$6,730,123
Inflation by spending category, 1966–2010
Between 1966 and 2010, medical care rose the most, up 1376.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 143.9%, against 573.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1966
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1966 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.43%
$673
Medical care
6.31%
$1,477
Energy
5.14%
$908
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.38%
$661
Food
4.35%
$650
Transportation
4.15%
$599
Apparel
2.05%
$244
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1966: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1966 to 2010
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.39% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1966–2010 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$673
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1966
$100 from 1966 had already become $365 by
1988, on its way to $673 in 2010; 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 prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2010
In 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1966 had the buying
power of $673; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 1966 to 2010: $100 is worth $673 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1966 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-2010/