HarderToEarn.com

1989 vs 2000

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$28,910 $41,990

+45.2%

Median Home

$120,425 $167,550

+39.1%

Housing Labor

4.2yr 4.0yr

1.0x easier

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 1989 Price 2000 Price Change Hours 1989 Hours 2000 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $1.00 $0.91 -8% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🍞 Bread $0.67 $0.93 +40% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
⛽ Gas $1.02 $1.51 +48% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🥩 Ground Beef $1.44 $1.57 +9% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🐔 Chicken $0.93 $1.07 +16% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥓 Bacon $1.77 $3.03 +72% 0.1h 0.2h Harder
☕ Coffee $3.07 $3.45 +12% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
🍊 Oranges $2.60 $3.45 +33% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
⚡ Electricity $0.08 $0.09 +7% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🎓 College Tuition $1,780 $3,501 +97% 128.1h 173.4h Harder
🚗 New Car $14,371 $21,850 +52% 1034.0h 1082.4h Harder
🏠 Monthly Rent $418 $579 +38% 30.1h 28.7h Easier
🏥 Doctor Visit $30.94 $44.99 +45% 2.2h 2.2h Harder

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 1989 to 2000, sorted by magnitude.

🎓
College Tuition

128.1h → 173.4h

1.4x

harder

🥓
Bacon

0.1h → 0.2h

1.2x

harder

🚗
New Car

1034.0h → 1082.4h

1.0x

harder

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

1.0x

harder

🏥
Doctor Visit

2.2h → 2.2h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 1989 to 2000, sorted by magnitude.

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.0h

0.6x

easier

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

0.7x

easier

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

Coffee

0.2h → 0.2h

0.8x

easier

🐔
Chicken

0.1h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.2h

0.9x

easier

🏠
Monthly Rent

30.1h → 28.7h

1.0x

easier

🍞
Bread

0.0h → 0.0h

1.0x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 1989 ($28,910), you'd need $40,165 in 2000 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (123.9 → 172.2).

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