HarderToEarn.com

1992 vs 2022

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$30,640 $74,580

+143.4%

Median Home

$121,375 $432,950

+256.7%

Housing Labor

4.0yr 5.8yr

1.5x harder

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 1992 Price 2022 Price Change Hours 1992 Hours 2022 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $0.86 $2.86 +232% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🍞 Bread $0.75 $1.70 +127% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
⛽ Gas $1.13 $4.09 +263% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🥩 Ground Beef $1.54 $4.81 +212% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🐔 Chicken $0.87 $1.80 +107% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥓 Bacon $1.92 $7.31 +282% 0.1h 0.2h Harder
☕ Coffee $2.58 $5.89 +129% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
🍊 Oranges $2.58 $5.43 +110% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
⚡ Electricity $0.09 $0.16 +80% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🎓 College Tuition $2,349 $9,750 +315% 159.5h 271.9h Harder
🚗 New Car $17,109 $48,008 +181% 1161.4h 1338.9h Harder
🏠 Monthly Rent $463 $1,166 +152% 31.4h 32.5h Harder
🏥 Doctor Visit $34.64 $121 +250% 2.4h 3.4h Harder

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 1992 to 2022, sorted by magnitude.

🎓
College Tuition

159.5h → 271.9h

1.7x

harder

🥓
Bacon

0.1h → 0.2h

1.6x

harder

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

1.5x

harder

🏥
Doctor Visit

2.4h → 3.4h

1.4x

harder

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.1h

1.4x

harder

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.1h

1.3x

harder

🚗
New Car

1161.4h → 1338.9h

1.2x

harder

🏠
Monthly Rent

31.4h → 32.5h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 1992 to 2022, sorted by magnitude.

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

0.7x

easier

🐔
Chicken

0.1h → 0.1h

0.9x

easier

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.2h

0.9x

easier

🍞
Bread

0.1h → 0.0h

0.9x

easier

Coffee

0.2h → 0.2h

0.9x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 1992 ($30,640), you'd need $63,902 in 2022 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (140.3 → 292.6).

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