Ground beef · per lb · 1988 Verified
$1.39in June 1988 — about $3.93 in today's money.
- Price in 1988$1.39
- Same money today$3.93
- Actual price now · June 2026$6.83
- Change since 1988+391%
Priced in working time
- Work to buy in 1988 · the federal minimum wage was $3.35/hour25 min
- Work to buy today · at $7.25/hour (2026)57 min
Observed price divided by the observed wage for the same year — nothing here is back-cast. See the minimum wage record →
Price history
Record & method
This is an observed price. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded it in June 1988; we have not adjusted the figure.
- Source
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED. Public domain.
- Series
- APU0000703112
- Observed
- June 1988
- Coverage
- January 1984 – June 2026
- Adjusted by
- CPIAUCNS · 118 → 333.952 (June 2026)
- License
- Public domain