1980
17 different songs reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980, starting with Please Don't Go by KC And The Sunshine Band. No single song ran away with the year: Call Me (Blondie) and Lady (Kenny Rogers) shared the longest stay at the top, 6 weeks each within 1980.
Prices rose 13.5% over 1979, a fast year for inflation. One dollar in 1980 buys about what $3.91 buys in 2025.
A gallon of regular gas averaged $1.25, up 38% from 1979. In 2025 dollars that is $4.86, against an actual 2025 average of $3.26.
Mailing a letter took a 15¢ stamp (it is 73¢ in 2025), and the federal minimum wage was $3.10 an hour.
Every #1 hit of 1980
| Song | Artist | First week at #1 | Weeks at #1 in 1980 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Please Don't Go | KC And The Sunshine Band | Jan 5 | 1 |
| Escape (The Pina Colada Song) | Rupert Holmes | Jan 12 | 1 |
| Rock With You | Michael Jackson | Jan 19 | 4 |
| Do That To Me One More Time | Captain & Tennille | Feb 16 | 1 |
| Crazy Little Thing Called Love | Queen | Feb 23 | 4 |
| Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) | Pink Floyd | Mar 22 | 4 |
| Call Me | Blondie | Apr 19 | 6 |
| Funkytown | Lipps, Inc. | May 31 | 4 |
| Coming Up (Live At Glasgow) | Paul McCartney And Wings | Jun 28 | 3 |
| It's Still Rock And Roll To Me | Billy Joel | Jul 19 | 2 |
| Magic | Olivia Newton-John | Aug 2 | 4 |
| Sailing | Christopher Cross | Aug 30 | 1 |
| Upside Down | Diana Ross | Sep 6 | 4 |
| Another One Bites The Dust | Queen | Oct 4 | 3 |
| Woman In Love | Barbra Streisand | Oct 25 | 3 |
| Lady | Kenny Rogers | Nov 15 | 6 |
| (Just Like) Starting Over | John Lennon | Dec 27 | 1 |
Weeks are counted within 1980; a song that carried over from 1979 or into 1981 shows only its 1980 weeks.
What things cost in 1980
| Item | 1980 price | In 2025 dollars | Actual 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gallon of regular gas | $1.25 | $4.86 | $3.26 |
| Dozen large eggs | $0.84 | $3.30 | $4.25 |
| Loaf of white bread (per lb) | $0.51 | $1.99 | $1.87 |
| Whole chicken (per lb) | $0.71 | $2.77 | $2.06 |
| Bacon (per lb) | $1.47 | $5.72 | $7.02 |
| Ground coffee (per lb) | $3.14 | $12.28 | $8.18 |
| Bananas (per lb) | $0.34 | $1.34 | $0.65 |
| Sugar (per lb) | $0.43 | $1.67 | $1.02 |
| Flour (per lb) | $0.21 | $0.82 | $0.56 |
| Electricity (per kWh) | $0.06 | $0.23 | $0.18 |
| Federal minimum wage (per hour) | $3.10 | $12.11 | $7.25 |
| Median new home sale price | $64,750 | $252,959 | $415,400 |
| First-class stamp | 15¢ | 59¢ | 73¢ |
Compare 1980 prices with any amount → · Find the #1 song on any day in 1980 →
The internet in 1980
- 1980Usenet opens for discussion — Duke grad students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis start Usenet, the threaded newsgroups that become the internet's first great message boards. source
