HarderToEarn.com

1991 vs 2023

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$30,130 $80,610

+167.5%

Median Home

$119,975 $426,525

+255.5%

Housing Labor

4.0yr 5.3yr

1.3x harder

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 1991 Price 2023 Price Change Hours 1991 Hours 2023 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $0.99 $2.80 +183% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🍞 Bread $0.71 $1.96 +176% 0.0h 0.1h Harder
⛽ Gas $1.14 $3.66 +221% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🥩 Ground Beef $1.60 $5.02 +215% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🐔 Chicken $0.88 $1.91 +117% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🥓 Bacon $2.22 $6.65 +200% 0.2h 0.2h Harder
☕ Coffee $2.81 $6.16 +119% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
🍊 Oranges $2.58 $5.90 +129% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
⚡ Electricity $0.09 $0.17 +94% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🎓 College Tuition $2,107 $10,209 +385% 145.5h 263.4h Harder
🚗 New Car $16,362 $47,936 +193% 1129.5h 1236.9h Harder
🏠 Monthly Rent $451 $1,259 +179% 31.2h 32.5h Harder
🏥 Doctor Visit $34.74 $109 +214% 2.4h 2.8h Harder

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 1991 to 2023, sorted by magnitude.

🎓
College Tuition

145.5h → 263.4h

1.8x

harder

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

1.2x

harder

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.1h

1.2x

harder

🏥
Doctor Visit

2.4h → 2.8h

1.2x

harder

🥓
Bacon

0.2h → 0.2h

1.1x

harder

🚗
New Car

1129.5h → 1236.9h

1.1x

harder

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.1h

1.1x

harder

🏠
Monthly Rent

31.2h → 32.5h

1.0x

harder

🍞
Bread

0.0h → 0.1h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 1991 to 2023, sorted by magnitude.

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

0.7x

easier

🐔
Chicken

0.1h → 0.0h

0.8x

easier

Coffee

0.2h → 0.2h

0.8x

easier

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.2h

0.9x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 1991 ($30,130), you'd need $67,423 in 2023 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (136.2 → 304.7).

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