$100 in 1966 is worth $789 in 2019,
because prices increased 689.1% over that period, an average of
3.97% a year.
$100 in 1966 has
the same buying power as
$789
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
689.1%
Average inflation rate
3.97% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$789
Price difference ($100 base)
$689
CPI in 1966
32.4
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 1966 → 2019
$789
$100 in 2019 → 1966
$12.67
What happened to prices between 1966 and 2019
Between 1966 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 32.4 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 689.1%, which works out to an average of
3.97% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1966 bought what
$0.13 buys in 2019: the 1966 dollar
lost 87.3% of its purchasing power over
these 53 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 2019 at the same ratio, 7.89: $1,000 becomes
$7,891, and $10,000 becomes $78,906.
Amount in 1966
Value in 2019
$1.00
$7.89
$5.00
$39.45
$10.00
$78.91
$20.00
$158
$50.00
$395
$100
$789
$500
$3,945
$1,000
$7,891
$5,000
$39,453
$10,000
$78,906
$100,000
$789,065
$1,000,000
$7,890,648
Inflation by spending category, 1966–2019
Between 1966 and 2019, medical care rose the most, up 1795.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 153.2%, against 689.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1966
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1966 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.97%
$789
Medical care
5.71%
$1,895
Energy
4.28%
$924
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.97%
$786
Food
3.91%
$764
Transportation
3.60%
$650
Apparel
1.77%
$253
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1966: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1966 to 2019
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1966–2019 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
2010–2019
1.78%
17.2%
$789
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1966
$100 from 1966 had already become $433 by
1992, on its way to $789 in 2019; 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: 2019
In 2019, prices rose 1.8% and $100 from 1966 had the buying
power of $789; the year's average CPI of 255.657 is the level
behind every 2019 figure on this page.
2019 was the last ordinary year before COVID-19. Consumer prices rose 1.8%,
slightly under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with gasoline averaging
$2.60 a gallon. Median household income jumped to $68,703, the highest on
record up to that point, and the median new home sold for about $328,000. A
first-class stamp rose to 55 cents.
The Fed reversed course. After four increases in 2018, it cut rates three
times, to 1.50–1.75%, citing slower global growth, trade tensions, and low
inflation. In July the expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in
U.S. records, and in August the yield curve briefly inverted, a signal
investors read as a recession warning.
For workers at the bottom of the pay scale, 2019 marked a milestone of a
different kind. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and reached its tenth
year without an increase, the longest gap since the wage was first set. Because
prices had climbed about 19% since it was last raised in 2009, its buying power
was lower than at any point in that span.
MLA: “Inflation from 1966 to 2019: $100 is worth $789 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1966 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-2019/