HarderToEarn.com

1984 vs 1993

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$22,420 $31,240

+39.3%

Median Home

$79,950 $126,500

+58.2%

Housing Labor

3.6yr 4.0yr

1.1x harder

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 1984 Price 1993 Price Change Hours 1984 Hours 1993 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $1.00 $0.91 -9% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🍞 Bread $0.54 $0.75 +39% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
⛽ Gas $1.21 $1.11 -9% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥩 Ground Beef $1.29 $1.57 +22% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🐔 Chicken $0.81 $0.89 +10% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥓 Bacon $1.86 $1.93 +4% 0.2h 0.1h Easier
☕ Coffee $2.58 $2.47 -4% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
🍊 Oranges $2.22 $2.53 +14% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
⚡ Electricity $0.08 $0.09 +12% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🎓 College Tuition $1,228 $2,537 +107% 113.9h 168.9h Harder
🚗 New Car $10,669 $17,677 +66% 989.8h 1177.0h Harder
🏠 Monthly Rent $332 $474 +43% 30.8h 31.5h Harder
🏥 Doctor Visit $34.22 $34.24 +0% 3.2h 2.3h Easier

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 1984 to 1993, sorted by magnitude.

🎓
College Tuition

113.9h → 168.9h

1.5x

harder

🚗
New Car

989.8h → 1177.0h

1.2x

harder

🏠
Monthly Rent

30.8h → 31.5h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 1984 to 1993, sorted by magnitude.

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.1h

0.7x

easier

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

0.7x

easier

Coffee

0.2h → 0.2h

0.7x

easier

🏥
Doctor Visit

3.2h → 2.3h

0.7x

easier

🥓
Bacon

0.2h → 0.1h

0.7x

easier

🐔
Chicken

0.1h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

0.8x

easier

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.2h

0.8x

easier

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.1h

0.9x

easier

🍞
Bread

0.1h → 0.1h

1.0x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 1984 ($22,420), you'd need $31,165 in 1993 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (103.9 → 144.5).

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