HarderToEarn.com

1991 vs 2020

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$30,130 $68,010

+125.7%

Median Home

$119,975 $328,150

+173.5%

Housing Labor

4.0yr 4.8yr

1.2x harder

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 1991 Price 2020 Price Change Hours 1991 Hours 2020 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $0.99 $1.51 +52% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🍞 Bread $0.71 $1.45 +105% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
⛽ Gas $1.14 $2.17 +91% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥩 Ground Beef $1.60 $4.12 +158% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🐔 Chicken $0.88 $1.56 +78% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🥓 Bacon $2.22 $5.58 +151% 0.2h 0.2h Harder
☕ Coffee $2.81 $4.43 +58% 0.2h 0.1h Easier
🍊 Oranges $2.58 $4.92 +91% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
⚡ Electricity $0.09 $0.14 +56% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🎓 College Tuition $2,107 $9,349 +344% 145.5h 285.9h Harder
🚗 New Car $16,362 $40,107 +145% 1129.5h 1226.6h Harder
🏠 Monthly Rent $451 $1,076 +138% 31.2h 32.9h Harder
🏥 Doctor Visit $34.74 $68.24 +96% 2.4h 2.1h Easier

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 1991 to 2020, sorted by magnitude.

🎓
College Tuition

145.5h → 285.9h

2.0x

harder

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.1h

1.1x

harder

🥓
Bacon

0.2h → 0.2h

1.1x

harder

🚗
New Car

1129.5h → 1226.6h

1.1x

harder

🏠
Monthly Rent

31.2h → 32.9h

1.1x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 1991 to 2020, sorted by magnitude.

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.0h

0.7x

easier

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

0.7x

easier

Coffee

0.2h → 0.1h

0.7x

easier

🐔
Chicken

0.1h → 0.0h

0.8x

easier

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.2h

0.8x

easier

🏥
Doctor Visit

2.4h → 2.1h

0.9x

easier

🍞
Bread

0.0h → 0.0h

0.9x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 1991 ($30,130), you'd need $57,278 in 2020 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (136.2 → 258.9).

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