$100 in 1966 is worth $719 in 2013,
because prices increased 619.0% over that period, an average of
4.29% a year.
$100 in 1966 has
the same buying power as
$719
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
619.0%
Average inflation rate
4.29% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$719
Price difference ($100 base)
$619
CPI in 1966
32.4
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1966 → 2013
$719
$100 in 2013 → 1966
$13.91
What happened to prices between 1966 and 2013
Between 1966 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 32.4 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 619.0%, which works out to an average of
4.29% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1966 bought what
$0.14 buys in 2013: the 1966 dollar
lost 86.1% of its purchasing power over
these 47 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 2013 at the same ratio, 7.19: $1,000 becomes
$7,190, and $10,000 becomes $71,900.
Amount in 1966
Value in 2013
$1.00
$7.19
$5.00
$35.95
$10.00
$71.90
$20.00
$144
$50.00
$360
$100
$719
$500
$3,595
$1,000
$7,190
$5,000
$35,950
$10,000
$71,900
$100,000
$719,003
$1,000,000
$7,190,031
Inflation by spending category, 1966–2013
Between 1966 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 1516.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 160.0%, against 619.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1966
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1966 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.29%
$719
Medical care
6.10%
$1,616
Energy
5.13%
$1,049
Food
4.23%
$701
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.22%
$698
Transportation
4.14%
$673
Apparel
2.05%
$260
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1966: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1966 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.23% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1966–2013 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
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$719
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1966
$100 from 1966 had already become $403 by
1990, on its way to $719 in 2013; 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: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1966 had the buying
power of $719; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1966 to 2013: $100 is worth $719 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1966 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-2013/