--- description: Average U.S. movie ticket price was $8.17 in 2014, slightly up from 2013 title: Average Movie Ticket Price Hit All-Time High in 2014 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Media](/tag/media/) ## Media Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Average Movie Ticket Price Hit All-Time High in 2014  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 21, 2015 12:17 AM CUT  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 21, 2015 12:17 AM CUT Movie ticket prices in the United States continued their upward annual climb in 2014, [despite last year’s summer box office slump](http://time.com/3666765/movie-theaters-ticket-prices-box-office-revenue-summer/ "undefined"). The average price in 2014 was $8.17, an all-time yearly high, but only a slight increase from the 2013 average of $8.13, the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) said in a statement Tuesday. That figure has steadily increased [since the mid-1990s](http://natoonline.org/data/ticket-price/ "undefined"), when tickets were around $4. “Over most of the year, the average was lower than the equivalent quarter on 2013, with the exception of the third quarter when we had a big hit with _Guardians of the Galaxy_ in 3D and large format screens,” NATO Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Patrick Corcoran said in a statement. Five years of rising ticket prices was one of the chief reasons [fewer people went to the movies last year](http://time.com/3666765/movie-theaters-ticket-prices-box-office-revenue-summer/ "undefined"), according to a recent survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers. [Box office revenues from 2014 were also down](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-2014-end-down-760445 "undefined") compared to those of 2013, as several highly anticipated sequels like _Transformers: Age of Extinction_ [raked in fewer profits](http://time.com/2951748/transformers-age-of-extinction-china/ "undefined") than their predecessors. Last year’s slumps were capped off by Sony’s decision to stream _The Interview_ online on Christmas Day following threats. While the online revenues likely haven’t covered the movie’s costs yet, they’ve [already topped $40 million](http://time.com/3675290/interview-40-million-on-demand/ "undefined") as of this week. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3675462/movie-ticket-prices/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3675462/movie-ticket-prices/"},"headline":"Average Movie Ticket Price Hit All-Time High in 2014","datePublished":"2015-01-21T00:17:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:43:41.519Z","description":"Rose to $8.17 in 2014, slightly up from 2013","url":"https://time.com/3675462/movie-ticket-prices/","keywords":["Media","movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/media/","name":"Media"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3675462/movie-ticket-prices/","name":"Average Movie Ticket Price Hit All-Time High in 2014"}}]}] ```