What things cost
1988
Gas was 95¢. A stamp was 25¢. Minimum wage was $3.35.
An hour at minimum wage bought 3.5 gallons of gas, or 13 stamps. A 40-hour week came to $134.00 before taxes, which is about $364.62 in 2025 dollars.
G33Z3R Radio · Receipt · 1988
- A gallon of regular gas
- 95¢≈ $2.58 today
- A first-class stamp
- 25¢≈ $0.68 today
- An hour at minimum wage
- $3.35≈ $9.12 today
- A movie ticket
- ~$4.11≈ ~$11.18 today
- A new car (average)
- ~$13,400≈ ~$36,462 today
- A home (median)
- ~$89,300≈ ~$242,990 today
$1 in 1988 ≈ $2.72 in 2025 · CPI-U 118.3 → 2025
🧮 1988 dollars → today
Sources: EIA — Retail motor gasoline prices (Annual Energy Review, table 5.24) · USPS — Domestic letter rates since 1863 · U.S. Department of Labor — History of the federal minimum wage · Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis — Consumer Price Index, 1913–. Stamp and wage are the rates in effect on December 31, 1988; ticket, car and home are documented averages.
What did your first paycheck buy in 1988? What did you earn, and what did you spend it on?
The drive, the dance, the heartbreak, the summer. Add a memory of 1988.
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