What Did It Cost? A Look Back
Pick something and a year to see what it cost then, what that is in today's dollars and how long it took to earn: 22 prices and wages, from an ounce of gold in 1833 to a dozen eggs today.
01Look Up a Price
The price lookup needs JavaScript. The table below shows a full basket of prices for 1980.
02A Basket of Prices: 1980 and Today
| Item | Then | In today's dollars | Latest | Latest figure for | Work time then | Work time, latest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Movie ticket average ticket | $2.69 | $11.00 | $11.31 | 2024 | 24 min | 23 min |
| Ounce of gold troy ounce | $615.00 | $2,515 | $3,442 | 2025 | 89.9 hrs | 110 hrs |
| Gallon of gasoline gallon of regular | $1.25 | $5.09 | $4.48 | September 2026 | 11 min | 8 min |
| First-class stamp one-ounce letter | $0.15 | $0.61 | $0.82 | current rate | 1 min | 2 min |
| New home (average of quarterly median prices) one house | $64,750 | $264,742 | $415,400 | 2025 | 9,464 hrs | 13,251 hrs |
| White bread per pound of white pan bread | $0.51 | $2.08 | $1.83 | September 2026 | 4 min | 3 min |
| Eggs per dozen grade A large eggs | $0.84 | $3.45 | $2.27 | September 2026 | 7 min | 4 min |
| Whole chicken per pound of fresh whole chicken | $0.71 | $2.90 | $2.06 | September 2026 | 6 min | 4 min |
| Bacon per pound of sliced bacon | $1.47 | $5.99 | $6.76 | September 2026 | 13 min | 12 min |
| White rice per pound of uncooked long-grain white rice | $0.51 | $2.09 | $1.12 | September 2026 | 4 min | 2 min |
| Tomatoes per pound of field-grown tomatoes | $0.67 | $2.76 | $1.99 | September 2026 | 6 min | 4 min |
| Bananas per pound of bananas | $0.34 | $1.40 | $0.66 | September 2026 | 3 min | 1 min |
| Sugar per pound of white sugar | $0.43 | $1.75 | $1.02 | September 2026 | 4 min | 2 min |
| Ground coffee per pound of 100% ground roast coffee | $3.14 | $12.85 | $9.33 | September 2026 | 28 min | 17 min |
| Electricity 1,000 kilowatt-hours of household electricity | $60.00 | $245.32 | $196.00 | September 2026 | 8.8 hrs | 6.0 hrs |
| Natural gas 100 therms of piped natural gas | $40.62 | $166.07 | $170.00 | September 2026 | 5.9 hrs | 5.2 hrs |
Annual averages for past years; Latest is the newest month or year available for each item, with its period shown beside it. Work time uses average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers (BLS). Items appear for the years their price series covers. Work time for the latest figure uses average pay for the same period: that year's average for yearly figures, the newest month for monthly ones. The new-home figure is the yearly average of the Census quarterly median prices, not the annual median.
03Gold, Gas and the Movies: The Long View
The three prices this page started with tell three different stories. Gold was not a market price for most of its history: the government fixed it at $20.67 an ounce from 1837 and at $35.00 from 1934, and it only began to move freely when a private market price was allowed from 1968; the dollar's official gold link ended in 1971. Gasoline has swung with oil shocks, recessions and wars, and in today's dollars has been both far cheaper and far dearer than it is now. Movie tickets have tracked inflation more closely than most people think; more on that on the movie ticket prices by year page.
04How This Page Works
Prices in today's dollars use the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U, U.S. city average), annual averages for past years and the newest month (September 2026) for today. The CPI begins in 1913, so earlier prices are shown without an inflation adjustment. Grocery, energy, pay and housing figures come from the same Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census data as the Hours-of-Work Price Museum and update monthly. Gasoline is the EIA's annual average for regular (leaded through 1975, unleaded from 1976), with the latest month from the BLS average price. Gold is the U.S. official price through 1967 and the London annual average from 1968. Stamps and the minimum wage are the rates in effect on July 1 of each year. For other amounts, use the inflation calculator.
05Frequently Asked Questions
How much did a gallon of gas cost in 1949?
About $0.27 a gallon for regular, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which is $3.79 in today's dollars. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics average price is $4.48 (September 2026).
What did gold cost before 1934?
The United States fixed the price of gold at $20.67 an ounce from 1837 until January 1934, when the Gold Reserve Act and a presidential proclamation raised it to $35. The official price stayed at $35 until 1971, when the dollar's link to gold ended, although the private market price was allowed to float from 1968. The 2025 average London price was $3,442.
How much did a movie ticket cost in the 1930s?
The industry estimated the average admission at 23 to 25 cents through most of the 1930s, before the federal admission tax, about $5.39 to $6.07 in today's dollars. The full history is on the movie ticket prices by year page.
How do you compare prices from different years?
This page uses the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), which starts in 1913, to put a price from any year into today's dollars. It also shows how long a worker at average pay or at the federal minimum wage would have had to work to buy it, which captures how incomes changed too.
Related: Movie ticket prices by year · Federal minimum wage history · Video game console prices · Price history of everyday items · Inflation calculator
Cite This Page
This page is free to cite and link. Its figures come from U.S. Energy Information Administration; U.S. Postal Service; World Gold Council and LBMA; Bureau of Labor Statistics; Census Bureau; calculations by DaveManuel.com and are kept current, so please include the date you accessed it.
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|---|---|---|
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Source data: U.S. Energy Information Administration; U.S. Postal Service; World Gold Council and LBMA; Bureau of Labor Statistics; Census Bureau; calculations by DaveManuel.com. Updates: Monthly. Page last updated November 10, 2026. How we build our data pages.