# Movie ticket prices vs. inflation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-ticket-prices-vs-inflation/622374 "2012-05-18T23:55:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-ticket-prices-vs-inflation/622374/1 "2012-05-18T23:55:33Z")
One of the most frequent rants on the SDMB and IRL is the high cost of movie tickets. Have they really gone up faster than inflation? Why? I have a theory that there are certain categories of items which people perceive as having increased in price particularly even though they haven’t, necessarily, which is things that you buy on special occasions, all by themselves. So how much did a gallon of milk cost 20 or 30 years ago? Well, unless you really specifically remember one particular trip to the grocery store when you were 9, during which you purchased nothing but a gallon of milk, and paid close attention to how much it cost, you probably have no idea… but because going to the movies has often been a special event, and because when you’re buying the tickets you’re paying attention specifically to what you’re doing, it’s much easier to remember that when you first started going to the movies by yourself it cost X$ for a ticket. And thus, when you go now, and it costs $12 or $15 or whatever, you can’t help but be confronted by how much more it costs. That said, they might in fact just cost 3 times as much as they did 30 years ago, adjusted for inflation. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-ticket-prices-vs-inflation/622374/2 "2012-05-19T00:00:36Z")
[Here](http://www.natoonline.org/statisticstickets.htm) are some stats unadjusted for inflation… looks like it’s taken them about 17 or 18 years to double. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-ticket-prices-vs-inflation/622374/3 "2012-05-19T03:44:01Z")
Of course it’s all variable. When I was a kid, we could go to the theatre and see two shows on Saturday afternoon for 25 cents. I was shocked when the 1963 _Mutiny on the Bounty_ cost 75 cents for a child to see. But now we have the cheap “second run” theatres to see last season’s movies for $2 while a new movie can cost $8.50 for a child and $10.50 for an adult; add about $2 for 3D; headache is free. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-ticket-prices-vs-inflation/622374/4 "2012-05-19T05:12:09Z")
This [New York Times article](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/business/media/as-ticket-prices-rise-theater-audiences-shrink.html?_r=1) says: > [@](#): > > Patrick Corcoran, the director of media and research for the National Association of Theatre Owners, points out that a ticket purchased for the average price of $1.65 in 1971 would cost $9.20 today — higher than the actual industry average, if adjusted according to the general inflation rate. That’s one data-point on your graph. Edit: Actually, if you go to [page 2](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/business/media/as-ticket-prices-rise-theater-audiences-shrink.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1) of that article, you get a graph showing prices, both adjusted and non-adjusted for inflation, since 1999. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-ticket-prices-vs-inflation/622374/5 "2012-05-19T14:18:21Z")
You should come to North Carolina. All tickets at my local theater are $3.00. They’re currently showing Battleship, The Avengers, Dark Shadows and The Dictator. Medium popcorn is 0.75 and a medium Coke is 0.50 ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-ticket-prices-vs-inflation/622374/6 "2012-05-19T15:37:14Z")
If you believe the Denver Post, ticket costs are [rising](http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_18628879). Don’t even get me started about popcorn and soda. I promised my son a movie tomorrow and if we don’t sneak in food (which I used to think was trashy), I’ll be spending about $50 minimum for our ‘date’.