$100 in 1966 is worth $903 in 2022,
because prices increased 803.3% over that period, an average of
4.01% a year.
$100 in 1966 has
the same buying power as
$903
in 2022
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
803.3%
Average inflation rate
4.01% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$903
Price difference ($100 base)
$803
CPI in 1966
32.4
CPI in 2022
292.655
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
Inflation in 2022
8.00%
$100 in 1966 → 2022
$903
$100 in 2022 → 1966
$11.07
What happened to prices between 1966 and 2022
Between 1966 and 2022, the Consumer Price Index went from 32.4 to 292.655.
Cumulatively, prices increased 803.3%, which works out to an average of
4.01% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1966 bought what
$0.11 buys in 2022: the 1966 dollar
lost 88.9% of its purchasing power over
these 56 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 2022 at the same ratio, 9.03: $1,000 becomes
$9,033, and $10,000 becomes $90,326.
Amount in 1966
Value in 2022
$1.00
$9.03
$5.00
$45.16
$10.00
$90.33
$20.00
$181
$50.00
$452
$100
$903
$500
$4,516
$1,000
$9,033
$5,000
$45,163
$10,000
$90,326
$100,000
$903,256
$1,000,000
$9,032,562
Inflation by spending category, 1966–2022
Between 1966 and 2022, medical care rose the most, up 1978.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 159.3%, against 803.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1966
spending costs in 2022, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1966 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.01%
$903
Medical care
5.57%
$2,078
Energy
4.66%
$1,280
Food
4.01%
$904
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.96%
$879
Transportation
3.84%
$825
Apparel
1.72%
$259
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1966: housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1966 to 2022
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1966–2022 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$799
2020–2022
6.34%
13.1%
$903
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1966
$100 from 1966 had already become $457 by
1994, on its way to $903 in 2022; 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: 2022
In 2022, prices rose 8.0% and $100 from 1966 had the buying
power of $903; the year's average CPI of 292.655 is the level
behind every 2022 figure on this page.
2022 was the year inflation returned. Consumer prices rose 8.0% on average,
the worst since 1981, driven by pandemic-era supply chains, stimulus-fueled
demand, and an energy shock from the war in Ukraine. Gas briefly topped $5 a
gallon nationally for the first time ever, and “inflation” became the
top-ranked economic concern in nearly every poll of American households.
MLA: “Inflation from 1966 to 2022: $100 is worth $903 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-2022/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1966 to 2022. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1966-to-2022/