The 1980s

A historical breakdown of purchasing power across the 1980s.

Decade Average House Price

$98,933

📊 Average Prices in the 1980s

Average prices across all years of the decade for every tracked item.

🛒 Food & Groceries

🥚 Eggs	per dozen	$0.87
🍞 Bread	per loaf	$0.58
🥩 Ground Beef	per lb	$1.31
🐔 Chicken	per lb	$0.83
🥓 Bacon	per lb	$1.95
☕ Coffee	per lb	$2.87
🍊 Oranges	per lb	$2.40

🏠 Housing & Utilities

⚡ Electricity	per KWH	$0.08
🏠 Monthly Rent	per month	$378

🚗 Transportation

⛽ Gas	per gallon	$1.04
🚗 New Car	per unit	$12,610

🏥 Healthcare

🏥 Doctor Visit

per visit

$30.49

🎓 Education

🎓 College Tuition

per year

$1,487

🏆 Decade Highlights

Items that saw the biggest labor multiplier change during the 1980s.

⛽

Gas

per gallon

-35% labor multiplier change

1.00x → 0.65x

🏥

Doctor Visit

per visit

-30% labor multiplier change

1.00x → 0.70x

🥓

Bacon

per lb

-26% labor multiplier change

1.00x → 0.74x

🥚

Eggs

per dozen

-23% labor multiplier change

1.00x → 0.77x

⚡

Electricity

per KWH

-22% labor multiplier change

1.00x → 0.78x

🥩

Ground Beef

per lb

-13% labor multiplier change

1.00x → 0.87x

📅 Explore Each Year

1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989