Movie ticket price hits all-time high

posted by Michael Zoldessy on August 3, 2011 at 7:36 am

This might not seem like big news to many as a lot of us have been paying more than $8 on average for a long, long time, but the average ticket price has crossed that threshold. Of course, just about everything is going up in inflation these days.

Comments (8)

denny906
denny906 on August 3, 2011 at 11:47 am

I remember back in 1964 when an adult movie theatre ticket was 90 cents. The following year prices went up to a dollar. This was in Los Angeles where movie tickets cost more than other parts of the country. I checked my inflation calculator and found that what had cost $1 to see a movie should cost $6.25 today.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on August 3, 2011 at 2:21 pm

Never forget when we went from $2.75 a seat in the middle 70’s to $3.00 a seat,you would have thought the world ENDED. I bet moviegoers today[Which happliy i am not}don’t even bat an eye.

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on August 3, 2011 at 2:50 pm

I agree Mike in Nashville we went from $2.50 to $3.00 in the late 70,s same result.

kjb2012
kjb2012 on August 3, 2011 at 3:56 pm

If I remember correctly, I paid $4 for Superman and $6 for Annie both at the Chinese in Hollywood. But it’s been a long time since I bought a ticket for less than $10. Oh yes, if I could sneak out of work for a bargain mat, I could do it for somewhere between $6-$7. My grandparents once commented on paying $3.50 for “Around the World in 80 Days” back in NYC (1956). But even at $10-12 a movie ticket is cheap compared to a Broadway show. A good seat for “Mary Poppins” at the New Amsterdam is going to set you back around $200!

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick on August 5, 2011 at 9:41 am

According to NATO, the average ticket price in 2002 was $5.80. Since 2002, the National Average Wage Index has risen from roughly $33,000 to $41,000. Both are roughly similar in percentage increases.

These are just numbers though. Millionaire CEOs don’t care about two dollar increases in ticket prices. Others whose salaries have not risen much or at all in several years may go less frequently, especially as ticket prices reach twelve or twenty dollars in some locations.

kjb2012
kjb2012 on August 5, 2011 at 11:19 am

These “average” ticket prices should be split between major metro areas, and the rest of North America. Also they should include only first run houses and exclude the “bargain mats”. I mean where in NYC or L.A. can you find a 1st run movie tix for $5.80?

kjb2012
kjb2012 on August 5, 2011 at 11:21 am

My mistake, $5.80 was back in 2002. But again where does one find a first run cinema in a major market charging only $8 for non bargain mat.

DARCYDT
DARCYDT on August 7, 2011 at 9:09 pm

$13 at night for a movie at the Regal Atlas Mall theater in Queens, New York. $17 for a 3D presentation. This in a deserted mall where almost every store has closed and their anchor Borders will be gone in a month. This is a neighborhood theater, not a Manhattan one.

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