Potato chips · per 16 oz · 1981 Verified
$2.30in June 1981 — about $8.48 in today's money.
- Price in 1981$2.30
- Same money today$8.48
- Actual price now · June 2026$6.63
- Change since 1981+188%
Priced in working time
- Work to buy in 1981 · the federal minimum wage was $3.35/hour41 min
- Work to buy today · at $7.25/hour (2026)55 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 1981; we have not adjusted the figure.
- Source
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED. Public domain.
- Series
- APU0000718311
- Observed
- June 1981
- Coverage
- January 1980 – June 2026
- Adjusted by
- CPIAUCNS · 90.6 → 333.952 (June 2026)
- License
- Public domain