Kids’ vs adults’ shoe prices
Two official price indexes on one scale. Both start at 100 in 1978, so the gap between the lines is the difference in price growth.
Boys’ and girls’ shoes vs men’s shoes; women’s shoes +63%.
Longest run: 4 years in a row, ending 2017. Widest one-year gap: 1996 (6.1 points).
Boys’ and girls’ shoes relative to men’s shoes, September 2026 vs the 1978 average.
Kids’ vs adults’ shoe prices, 1978 = 100
- Boys’ and girls’ shoes
- Men’s shoes
- Women’s shoes
Change over different windows
- 1978–2025+109.8% vs +97.3%Boys’ and girls’ shoes: 1.6% a year · Men’s shoes: 1.5% a year · Women’s shoes: +62.6%
- 2000–2025+32.5% vs +16.9%Boys’ and girls’ shoes: 1.1% a year · Men’s shoes: 0.6% a year · Women’s shoes: +11.1%
- 2015–2025+8.4% vs +9.7%Boys’ and girls’ shoes: 0.8% a year · Men’s shoes: 0.9% a year · Women’s shoes: +3.1%
- 2020–2025+7.4% vs +9.9%Boys’ and girls’ shoes: 1.4% a year · Men’s shoes: 1.9% a year · Women’s shoes: +10.3%
- Last 12 months+0.4% vs +4.5% vs +3.9%September 2026 vs a year earlier
Reading the gap
A $100 purchase of boys’ and girls’ shoes in 1978 equals $215.40 at September 2026 prices; the same $100 spent on men’s shoes equals $210.98. Boys’ and girls’ shoes have become 2% dearer relative to men’s shoes. Both are index numbers, so the comparison is about change since 1978, not about which costs more today.
Look up a single year on the year-by-year pages, or convert an old price with the calculator.