HarderToEarn.com

1994 vs 2014

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$32,260 $53,660

+66.3%

Median Home

$130,425 $285,775

+119.1%

Housing Labor

4.0yr 5.3yr

1.3x harder

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 1994 Price 2014 Price Change Hours 1994 Hours 2014 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $0.86 $2.02 +134% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🍞 Bread $0.76 $1.40 +84% 0.0h 0.1h Harder
⛽ Gas $1.11 $3.37 +203% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🥩 Ground Beef $1.48 $3.90 +164% 0.1h 0.2h Harder
🐔 Chicken $0.90 $1.53 +70% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🥓 Bacon $1.99 $5.78 +190% 0.1h 0.2h Harder
☕ Coffee $3.40 $4.99 +47% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
🍊 Oranges $2.63 $4.89 +86% 0.2h 0.2h Harder
⚡ Electricity $0.09 $0.14 +49% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🎓 College Tuition $2,681 $8,543 +219% 172.9h 331.1h Harder
🚗 New Car $18,657 $33,560 +80% 1202.9h 1300.9h Harder
🏠 Monthly Rent $485 $870 +79% 31.3h 33.7h Harder
🏥 Doctor Visit $34.37 $102 +196% 2.2h 3.9h Harder

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 1994 to 2014, sorted by magnitude.

🎓
College Tuition

172.9h → 331.1h

1.9x

harder

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

1.8x

harder

🏥
Doctor Visit

2.2h → 3.9h

1.8x

harder

🥓
Bacon

0.1h → 0.2h

1.7x

harder

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.2h

1.6x

harder

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.1h

1.4x

harder

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.2h

1.1x

harder

🍞
Bread

0.0h → 0.1h

1.1x

harder

🚗
New Car

1202.9h → 1300.9h

1.1x

harder

🏠
Monthly Rent

31.3h → 33.7h

1.1x

harder

🐔
Chicken

0.1h → 0.1h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 1994 to 2014, sorted by magnitude.

Coffee

0.2h → 0.2h

0.9x

easier

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

0.9x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 1994 ($32,260), you'd need $51,519 in 2014 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (148.2 → 236.7).

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