Movie Ticket Prices by Year: The Average Cost of a Ticket Since 1933

01The Average Ticket, Then and in Today's Dollars

The price on the marquee has risen almost every year, but much of that is ordinary inflation. In today's dollars the average ticket cost $5.99 in 1933 and about $5.05 in 1948. Among the years with published figures, it then climbed to a peak of $13.73 in 1971, as attendance fell with the spread of television and theaters charged more per seat. Since 1980 the real price has stayed in a narrow band, between $9.49 and $12.65.

Annual averages. 1933-1946 exclude the federal admission tax. Between 1948 and 1974 the industry published figures only for some years; the line connects them. 2020, 2021 and the years after 2022 are estimates. Adjusted with the CPI-U for each year and the September 2026 CPI-U for today.

02Movie Ticket Prices by Year

Minutes of work: the ticket price divided by average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers that year (BLS), available from 1964. Sources: Film Daily Year Book; National Association of Theatre Owners (now Cinema United); The Numbers for estimates since 2020.

03Have Tickets Outrun Inflation?

Over the long run, ticket prices have risen roughly in line with inflation: from 1974 to 2019 the average ticket rose 3.6% a year and consumer prices 3.7%. From 2000 to 2024, tickets have risen faster than inflation, 3.1% a year against 2.5%. Several things push the average up: theaters have rebuilt around fewer, more comfortable seats; premium screens such as IMAX and 3D carry surcharges; and with fewer tickets sold each year than in the early 2000s, theaters lean more on price per ticket. Discount days, memberships and subscription plans pull the other way, which is one reason the published average can differ from what a given moviegoer pays.

04How This Page Works

For 1933 to 1946 the figures are the industry estimates printed in the Film Daily Year Book, which exclude the federal admission tax of the era. From 1948 the figures are the National Association of Theatre Owners' average ticket price, which was published only for some years before 1974 and every year from 1974 to 2019. The association, renamed Cinema United in 2025, published no average for 2020 or 2021 and reported $10.53 for 2022 in a Cinema Foundation report. The other years since 2020 (2020, 2021, 2023, 2024) are estimates from The Numbers, based on box office receipts; As shown in The Numbers market table on November 10, 2026. The Numbers says it revised its estimates from 2022 on with partner data in 2025 but has not published the revised yearly figures in its table, so these are its earlier published estimates. Quarterly estimates are kept separate from the yearly series: the $12.27 figure for the second quarter of 2026 is from The Numbers' article "Ticket prices up 5% in Q2 vs. 2025 as attendance climbs 10%" (September 10, 2026, on the-numbers.com). Yearly figures appear here once a full year is published. Inflation adjustments use the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers and update when each new CPI is released. For other amounts, use the inflation calculator.

Ticket data through 2024; inflation adjustments through September 2026.

05Frequently Asked Questions

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