HarderToEarn.com

1990 vs 2007

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$29,940 $50,230

+67.8%

Median Home

$122,300 $244,950

+100.3%

Housing Labor

4.1yr 4.9yr

1.2x harder

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 1990 Price 2007 Price Change Hours 1990 Hours 2007 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $1.01 $1.68 +65% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🍞 Bread $0.69 $1.21 +74% 0.0h 0.0h Harder
⛽ Gas $1.16 $2.80 +141% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🥩 Ground Beef $1.59 $2.30 +45% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🐔 Chicken $0.90 $1.12 +24% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🥓 Bacon $2.12 $3.66 +72% 0.1h 0.2h Harder
☕ Coffee $2.97 $3.47 +17% 0.2h 0.1h Easier
🍊 Oranges $2.60 $3.95 +52% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
⚡ Electricity $0.08 $0.12 +39% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🎓 College Tuition $1,908 $5,943 +211% 132.6h 246.1h Harder
🚗 New Car $15,472 $27,026 +75% 1074.9h 1119.1h Harder
🏠 Monthly Rent $436 $739 +70% 30.3h 30.6h Harder
🏥 Doctor Visit $35.30 $83.31 +136% 2.5h 3.4h Harder

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 1990 to 2007, sorted by magnitude.

🎓
College Tuition

132.6h → 246.1h

1.9x

harder

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

1.4x

harder

🏥
Doctor Visit

2.5h → 3.4h

1.4x

harder

🚗
New Car

1074.9h → 1119.1h

1.0x

harder

🍞
Bread

0.0h → 0.0h

1.0x

harder

🥓
Bacon

0.1h → 0.2h

1.0x

harder

🏠
Monthly Rent

30.3h → 30.6h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 1990 to 2007, sorted by magnitude.

Coffee

0.2h → 0.1h

0.7x

easier

🐔
Chicken

0.1h → 0.0h

0.7x

easier

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

0.8x

easier

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.1h

0.9x

easier

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.2h

0.9x

easier

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.1h

1.0x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 1990 ($29,940), you'd need $47,512 in 2007 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (130.7 → 207.3).

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