I moved to Sioux Falls in 1985 from a small town in Iowa. I'm sure at the time I grumbled about the price of goods but looking back at the price index of that year, I probably shouldn't have.

Here are some prices from 1985:

The median new-home price: $82,500
You could mail a letter for 20 cents
You could buy 2 movie tickets for Back to the Future for $7.10
Buy the Brothers in Arms album by Dire Straits for $5.97 at Musicland
Buy a 20-inch color TV for $500
Milk was $1.09 per gallon at Piggly Wiggly
A dozen eggs costs about $1
Get wired into the relatively new internet with a Dell PC for $795
You could buy a pound of ground beef for $1.47
Get a new Honda Accord for $8,845
A new Chevrolet Astrovan was going for $6,500.00 at Frank Stinson Chevrolet
Boys jeans for back-to-school were $8.99
Your wife could grab a pair of dress shoes for $19.99 (and dad still complained!)
You could get 2 ribeye steaks at Bonanza for $7.99

Everything listed above would cost a total of $99,193, and that includes a new home and two new cars.

Looking back, I'd say we had it pretty good - even adjusting for the cost-index. Granted the wages were much lower in those days, it's fun to look back at what money could buy.

Source: Morris County Library

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