HarderToEarn.com

1992 vs 2020

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$30,640 $68,010

+122.0%

Median Home

$121,375 $328,150

+170.4%

Housing Labor

4.0yr 4.8yr

1.2x harder

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 1992 Price 2020 Price Change Hours 1992 Hours 2020 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $0.86 $1.51 +75% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🍞 Bread $0.75 $1.45 +94% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
⛽ Gas $1.13 $2.17 +93% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥩 Ground Beef $1.54 $4.12 +167% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🐔 Chicken $0.87 $1.56 +80% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🥓 Bacon $1.92 $5.58 +191% 0.1h 0.2h Harder
☕ Coffee $2.58 $4.43 +72% 0.2h 0.1h Easier
🍊 Oranges $2.58 $4.92 +91% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
⚡ Electricity $0.09 $0.14 +54% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🎓 College Tuition $2,349 $9,349 +298% 159.5h 285.9h Harder
🚗 New Car $17,109 $40,107 +134% 1161.4h 1226.6h Harder
🏠 Monthly Rent $463 $1,076 +132% 31.4h 32.9h Harder
🏥 Doctor Visit $34.64 $68.24 +97% 2.4h 2.1h Easier

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 1992 to 2020, sorted by magnitude.

🎓
College Tuition

159.5h → 285.9h

1.8x

harder

🥓
Bacon

0.1h → 0.2h

1.3x

harder

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.1h

1.2x

harder

🚗
New Car

1161.4h → 1226.6h

1.1x

harder

🏠
Monthly Rent

31.4h → 32.9h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 1992 to 2020, sorted by magnitude.

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

0.7x

easier

Coffee

0.2h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.0h

0.8x

easier

🐔
Chicken

0.1h → 0.0h

0.8x

easier

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.2h

0.9x

easier

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

0.9x

easier

🍞
Bread

0.1h → 0.0h

0.9x

easier

🏥
Doctor Visit

2.4h → 2.1h

0.9x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 1992 ($30,640), you'd need $56,528 in 2020 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (140.3 → 258.9).

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