With the cost of just about everything going up, making us long for a simpler (read: cheaper) time, it got me wondering about the time-honored tradition of going to the movies. Obviously, the cost of a ticket to sit in the dark with a bunch of strangers has increased over the years, but by how much? And what does that translate to in today’s dollar?
First, a few notes on how I compiled this information. I looked at average ticket price data from NatoOnline.org, but that hasn’t always been consistently collected. For the years where there is missing data (noted with an * next to the ticket cost), I estimated them using linear growth between two known dates. So if 1943 was $0.25 and 1945 was $0.27, I estimated 1944 as $0.26. Okay, glad to have that out of the way.
Second, the cost adjusted for inflation was calculated using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics online inflation calculator.
Lastly, I threw in the highest-grossing film and winner of the Academy Award for ‘Best Picture’ for each year. Just thought this would be fun to have. One thing to acknowledge here (before someone yells at me in the comments) is that while ‘Best Picture’ in spirit has been around since 1929, in name it’s only been around since 1962. Before that, it was known as ‘Outstanding Picture,’ ‘Outstanding Production,’ ‘Outstanding Motion Picture,’ and ‘Best Motion Picture.’ But if we all agree not to make a fuss about the semantics, we can get right to it.
1950
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.40*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $5.25
Highest-grossing film: “Cinderella”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “All About Eve”
1951
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.43*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $5.22
Highest-grossing film: “Quo Vadis”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “An American In Paris”
1952
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.45*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $5.24
Highest-grossing film: “The Greatest Show on Earth”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “The Greatest Show on Earth”
1953
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.47*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $5.45
Highest-grossing film: “Peter Pan”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “From Here to Eternity”
1954
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.49
Cost adjusted for inflation: $5.62
Highest-grossing film: “White Christmas”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “On the Waterfront”
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1955
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.54*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $6.24
Highest-grossing film: “Lady and the Tramp”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Marty”
1956
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.59*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $6.79
Highest-grossing film: “The Ten Commandments”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Around the World in 80 Days”
1957
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.63*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $7.04
Highest-grossing film: “The Bridge on the River Kwai”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “The Bridge on the River Kwai”
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1958
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.68
Cost adjusted for inflation: $7.33
Highest-grossing film: “South Pacific”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Gigi”
1959
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.72*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $7.66
Highest-grossing film: “Ben-Hur”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Ben-Hur”
1960
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.75*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $7.89
Highest-grossing film: “Swiss Family Robinson”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “The Apartment”
1961
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.79*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $8.18
Highest-grossing film: “101 Dalmatians”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “West Side Story”
1962
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.82*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $8.43
Highest-grossing film: “The Longest Day”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Lawrence of Arabia”
1963
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.86
Cost adjusted for inflation: $8.72
Highest-grossing film: “Cleopatra”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Tom Jones”
1964
Cost of a movie ticket: $0.95*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $9.48
Highest-grossing film: “Mary Poppins”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “My Fair Lady”
1965
Cost of a movie ticket: $1.04*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $10.28
Highest-grossing film: “The Sound of Music”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “The Sound of Music”
1966
Cost of a movie ticket: $1.13*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $10.96
Highest-grossing film: “The Bible”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “A Man for All Seasons”
1967
Cost of a movie ticket: $1.22
Cost adjusted for inflation: $11.44
Highest-grossing film: “The Graduate”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “In the Heat of the Night”
1968
Cost of a movie ticket: $1.33*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $12.03
Highest-grossing film: “Funny Girl”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Oliver!”
1969
Cost of a movie ticket: $1.44*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $12.48
Highest-grossing film: “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Midnight Cowboy”
1970
Cost of a movie ticket: $1.54*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $12.57
Highest-grossing film: “Love Story”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Patton”
1971
Cost of a movie ticket: $1.65
Cost adjusted for inflation: $12.79
Highest-grossing film: “Billy Jack”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “The French Connection”
1972
Cost of a movie ticket: $1.73*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $12.98
Highest-grossing film: “The Godfather”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “The Godfather”
1973
Cost of a movie ticket: $1.81*
Cost adjusted for inflation: $13.10
Highest-grossing film: “The Exorcist”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “The Sting”
1974
Cost of a movie ticket: $1.89
Cost adjusted for inflation: $12.51
Highest-grossing film: “The Towering Inferno”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “The Godfather Part II”
1975
Cost of a movie ticket: $2.03
Cost adjusted for inflation: $12.02
Highest-grossing film: “Jaws”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
1976
Cost of a movie ticket: $2.13
Cost adjusted for inflation: $11.82
Highest-grossing film: “Rocky”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Rocky”
1977
Cost of a movie ticket: $2.23
Cost adjusted for inflation: $11.76
Highest-grossing film: “Star Wars: A New Hope”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Annie Hall”
1978
Cost of a movie ticket: $2.34
Cost adjusted for inflation: $11.55
Highest-grossing film: “Grease”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “The Deer Hunter”
1979
Cost of a movie ticket: $2.47
Cost adjusted for inflation: $11.15
Highest-grossing film: “Superman”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Kramer vs. Kramer”
1980
Cost of a movie ticket: $2.69
Cost adjusted for inflation: $10.66
Highest-grossing film: “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Ordinary People”
1981
Cost of a movie ticket: $2.78
Cost adjusted for inflation: $9.86
Highest-grossing film: “Raiders of the Lost Ark”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Chariots of Fire”
1982
Cost of a movie ticket: $2.94
Cost adjusted for inflation: $9.62
Highest-grossing film: “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Gandhi”
1983
Cost of a movie ticket: $3.15
Cost adjusted for inflation: $9.93
Highest-grossing film: “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Terms of Endearment”
1984
Cost of a movie ticket: $3.36
Cost adjusted for inflation: $10.17
Highest-grossing film: “Ghostbusters”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Amadeus”
1985
Cost of a movie ticket: $3.55
Cost adjusted for inflation: $10.38
Highest-grossing film: “Back to the Future”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Out of Africa”
1986
Cost of a movie ticket: $3.71
Cost adjusted for inflation: $10.44
Highest-grossing film: “Top Gun”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Platoon”
1987
Cost of a movie ticket: $3.91
Cost adjusted for inflation: $10.84
Highest-grossing film: “Beverly Hills Cop II”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “The Last Emperor”
1988
Cost of a movie ticket: $4.11
Cost adjusted for inflation: $10.96
Highest-grossing film: “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Rain Man”
1989
Cost of a movie ticket: $3.99
Cost adjusted for inflation: $10.16
Highest-grossing film: “Batman”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Driving Miss Daisy”
1990
Cost of a movie ticket: $4.22
Cost adjusted for inflation: $10.22
Highest-grossing film: “Ghost”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Dances With Wolves”
1991
Cost of a movie ticket: $4.21
Cost adjusted for inflation: $9.65
Highest-grossing film: “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “The Silence of the Lambs”
1992
Cost of a movie ticket: $4.15
Cost adjusted for inflation: $9.27
Highest-grossing film: “Batman Returns”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Unforgiven”
1993
Cost of a movie ticket: $4.14
Cost adjusted for inflation: $8.95
Highest-grossing film: “Jurassic Park”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Schindler’s List”
1994
Cost of a movie ticket: $4.08
Cost adjusted for inflation: $8.61
Highest-grossing film: “The Lion King”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Forrest Gump”
1995
Cost of a movie ticket: $4.35
Cost adjusted for inflation: $8.93
Highest-grossing film: “Batman Forever”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Braveheart”
1996
Cost of a movie ticket: $4.42
Cost adjusted for inflation: $8.83
Highest-grossing film: “Independence Day”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “The English Patient”
1997
Cost of a movie ticket: $4.59
Cost adjusted for inflation: $8.90
Highest-grossing film: “Titanic”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Titanic”
1998
Cost of a movie ticket: $4.69
Cost adjusted for inflation: $8.95
Highest-grossing film: “Armageddon”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Shakespeare in Love”
1999
Cost of a movie ticket: $5.06
Cost adjusted for inflation: $9.50
Highest-grossing film: “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “American Beauty”
2000
Cost of a movie ticket: $5.39
Cost adjusted for inflation: $9.85
Highest-grossing film: “Mission: Impossible 2”
Winner of ‘Best Picture’: “Gladiator”
1973 Was the Most Expensive Year To Go to the Movies
Perhaps the most surprising thing we found was that 1973 was a VERY expensive year to go to the movies. In fact, it was almost 43% more expensive than a ticket in the ’90s.
Do you know why it was so expensive in ’73? Do you have a favorite childhood memory of going to the movies? Tell us in the comments!
