All footwear price history since 1947
What footwear cost Americans from 1947 to September 2026, measured by the official consumer price index, set against overall inflation and the factory.
September 2026 vs a year earlier. Higher than 70% of all 932 twelve-month changes in the series.
With overall inflation it would be $1,509. Shoes rose 2.2% a year, everything 3.5%.
All footwear relative to all consumer prices, 2026 year to date vs 2000.
1.5% below trend on average, 2015–2025. Priciest: October (+1.3%).
All footwear vs overall inflation, 1947 = 100
- All footwear
- All items (overall inflation)
What the numbers say
From 1947 to 2025 the all footwear index rose 425.8%, while the all-items index rose 1342.1%. Put another way, a pair that tracked the index cost $5.26 in 2025 for every dollar it cost in 1947, while the average basket of goods and services cost $14.42. The highest annual average so far was in 2024.
The largest one-year increases were in 1951 (+13.1%), 1948 (+9.2%), 1979 (+7.9%); the largest declines in 2020 (−2.5%), 1952 (−2.0%), 1999 (−1.8%). 20.5% of years since 1948 ended with lower average prices than the year before.
All footwear, monthly index since 2022
- All footwear (not seasonally adjusted)
Decade checkpoints
- 1980$168.26$100 then, at September 2026 prices · index 91.8 · overall inflation would give $408.87
- 1990$131.64$100 then, at September 2026 prices · index 117.4 · overall inflation would give $257.88
- 2000$124.81$100 then, at September 2026 prices · index 123.8 · overall inflation would give $195.67
- 2010$120.72$100 then, at September 2026 prices · index 128.0 · overall inflation would give $154.52
- 2020$115.98$100 then, at September 2026 prices · index 133.2 · overall inflation would give $130.19
- 2025$106.01$100 then, at September 2026 prices · index 145.7 · overall inflation would give $104.66
At the factory gate
The producer price index for footwear at the factory gate rose 79.9% from 2000 to 2025, while the consumer index for all footwear rose 17.7%. Producer prices follow shoes made in the United States, while store prices also cover imported pairs and retail markup, so the two lines can drift far apart. Compare every stage →
Seasonal swing
On a typical year (2015–2025), prices run 1.5% under trend in December and 1.3% over it in October, a spread of 2.8 points. Month-by-month table →
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, series CUUR0000SEAE (1982–84 = 100), retrieved nightly. Index numbers track price change, not price levels: an index of 150 for men’s shoes and 130 for women’s does not mean men’s shoes cost more. How we calculate