HarderToEarn.com

1993 vs 1998

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$31,240 $38,890

+24.5%

Median Home

$126,500 $151,925

+20.1%

Housing Labor

4.0yr 3.9yr

1.0x easier

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 1993 Price 1998 Price Change Hours 1993 Hours 1998 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $0.91 $1.04 +14% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🍞 Bread $0.75 $0.86 +14% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
⛽ Gas $1.11 $1.06 -4% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥩 Ground Beef $1.57 $1.41 -10% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🐔 Chicken $0.89 $1.04 +17% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥓 Bacon $1.93 $2.54 +32% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
☕ Coffee $2.47 $3.77 +52% 0.2h 0.2h Harder
🍊 Oranges $2.53 $3.13 +23% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
⚡ Electricity $0.09 $0.09 -5% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🎓 College Tuition $2,537 $3,229 +27% 168.9h 172.7h Harder
🚗 New Car $17,677 $20,686 +17% 1177.0h 1106.4h Easier
🏠 Monthly Rent $474 $542 +14% 31.5h 29.0h Easier
🏥 Doctor Visit $34.24 $32.08 -6% 2.3h 1.7h Easier

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 1993 to 1998, sorted by magnitude.

Coffee

0.2h → 0.2h

1.2x

harder

🥓
Bacon

0.1h → 0.1h

1.1x

harder

🎓
College Tuition

168.9h → 172.7h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 1993 to 1998, sorted by magnitude.

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.1h

0.7x

easier

🏥
Doctor Visit

2.3h → 1.7h

0.8x

easier

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

0.8x

easier

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.1h

0.9x

easier

🍞
Bread

0.1h → 0.0h

0.9x

easier

🏠
Monthly Rent

31.5h → 29.0h

0.9x

easier

🚗
New Car

1177.0h → 1106.4h

0.9x

easier

🐔
Chicken

0.1h → 0.1h

0.9x

easier

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.2h

1.0x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 1993 ($31,240), you'd need $35,247 in 1998 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (144.5 → 163.0).

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