Pricele

Grocery prices in 1985

In 1985, a dozen large eggs cost $0.80 and a gallon of regular gas cost $1.20 in the U.S., and the average hourly wage was $8.73.

1985 vs 2025

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data (U.S. city average) and average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees. Yearly figures are the mean of the monthly ones. Prices are in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation; minutes of work is the adjustment.

What changed

The wage went from $8.73 to $31.34 an hour. The whole basket above took about 153 minutes of work in 1985 and about 124 in 2025.

The biggest price rise was a dozen large eggs, +431%, from $0.80 to $4.25.

Measured in work, a pound of bananas got the most affordable: about 2.5 minutes in 1985, about 1.2 now.

Play with these numbers

Price Year shows five receipts like this one and asks for the year. Then & Now asks what one item cost in an earlier year, and Inflation Ladder asks which rose the most.

1985 prices, answered

How much did a dozen large eggs cost in 1985?
$0.80 (per dozen, grade A large), the U.S. city average for 1985 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At that year's average hourly wage of $8.73, it took about 5.5 minutes of work. In 2025 it cost $4.25, or about 8.1 minutes.
How much did a gallon of regular gas cost in 1985?
$1.20 (per gallon, unleaded regular), the U.S. city average for 1985 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At that year's average hourly wage of $8.73, it took about 8.2 minutes of work. In 2025 it cost $3.26, or about 6.2 minutes.
How much did a pound of white bread cost in 1985?
$0.55 (per lb, white pan bread), the U.S. city average for 1985 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At that year's average hourly wage of $8.73, it took about 3.8 minutes of work. In 2025 it cost $1.87, or about 3.6 minutes.
How much did a pound of ground beef cost in 1985?
$1.24 (per lb, 100% beef), the U.S. city average for 1985 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At that year's average hourly wage of $8.73, it took about 8.5 minutes of work. In 2025 it cost $6.09, or about 12 minutes.
How much did a pound of ground coffee cost in 1985?
$2.58 (per lb, 100% ground roast), the U.S. city average for 1985 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At that year's average hourly wage of $8.73, it took about 18 minutes of work. In 2025 it cost $8.18, or about 16 minutes.
What was the average hourly wage in 1985?
$8.73 an hour, the BLS average for production and nonsupervisory employees in private industry. In 2025 it was $31.34.

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