This Is the Price of a Movie Ticket in the Past 25 Years

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Mar 29, 8:05AM EDT

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This Is the Price of a Movie Ticket in the Past 25 Years — © icholakov / Getty Images

Inflation is back, according to most economists. Not all items will be hit equally. The price of gasoline has risen because of increasing oil prices. The price of homes has risen, due in part to low interest rates. Coffee prices are up, because of strong demand and modest supply. Movie ticket prices have flattened, though, because theaters are closed and video streaming has crippled demand.

According to movie data site The Numbers, movie ticket prices have doubled since 1996, 25 years ago. The rise flattened in the past three years, at $9.19 for 2019, 2020 and so far this year. The increases in the two years before that were modest. The price of a ticket in 2018 was $9.11 and in 2017 was $9.87.

What happened to slow ticket price increases? A slowdown in overall movie revenue brought in through theaters probably is part of the reason. Total box office revenue rose only 11% between 2009 and 2019, from $10.6 billion to $11.3 billion. Sales peaked in 2018 at $11.9 billion. Netflix started its streaming business in 2007, although the real growth began until a few years later. This likely is no coincidence. Hulu was started in 2007, and Amazon Prime started to stream movies two years later.

There is a theory that the movie industry, in theaters, priced itself out of the market. While the average movie ticket price is $9.19, in many theaters in large cities, the price jumped to over $15. With popcorn and candy, the price to go see a show can be over $20. No one knows for sure, but that, by itself, may have capped demand.
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The Average Price of a Movie Ticket for the Past 25 Years

Year	Price
2021	$9.16
2020	$9.16
2019	$9.16
2018	$9.11
2017	$8.97
2016	$8.65
2015	$8.43
2014	$8.17
2013	$8.13
2012	$7.96
2011	$7.93
2010	$7.89
2009	$7.50
2008	$7.18
2007	$6.88
2006	$6.55
2005	$6.41
2004	$6.21
2003	$6.03
2002	$5.81
2001	$5.66
2000	$5.39
1999	$5.08
1998	$4.69
1997	$4.59
1996	$4.35

Click here to see which are the 55 best movies ever made.
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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.