HarderToEarn.com

2005 vs 2020

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$46,330 $68,010

+46.8%

Median Home

$236,550 $328,150

+38.7%

Housing Labor

5.1yr 4.8yr

1.1x easier

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 2005 Price 2020 Price Change Hours 2005 Hours 2020 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $1.22 $1.51 +24% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🍞 Bread $1.04 $1.45 +40% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🥛 Milk $3.19 $3.32 +4% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
⛽ Gas $2.30 $2.17 -5% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥩 Ground Beef $2.30 $4.12 +79% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🐔 Chicken $1.06 $1.56 +48% 0.0h 0.0h Harder
🥓 Bacon $3.39 $5.58 +65% 0.2h 0.2h Harder
☕ Coffee $3.26 $4.43 +36% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🍊 Oranges $3.74 $4.92 +32% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
🍬 Sugar $7.77 $12.42 +60% 0.3h 0.4h Harder
⚡ Electricity $0.10 $0.14 +35% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🎓 College Tuition $5,351 $9,349 +75% 240.2h 285.9h Harder
🚗 New Car $25,164 $40,107 +59% 1129.7h 1226.6h Harder
🏠 Monthly Rent $685 $1,076 +57% 30.7h 32.9h Harder
🏥 Doctor Visit $68.19 $68.24 +0% 3.1h 2.1h Easier
🎬 Movie Ticket $6.42 $8.87 +38% 0.3h 0.3h Easier

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 2005 to 2020, sorted by magnitude.

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.1h

1.2x

harder

🎓
College Tuition

240.2h → 285.9h

1.2x

harder

🥓
Bacon

0.2h → 0.2h

1.1x

harder

🍬
Sugar

0.3h → 0.4h

1.1x

harder

🚗
New Car

1129.7h → 1226.6h

1.1x

harder

🏠
Monthly Rent

30.7h → 32.9h

1.1x

harder

🐔
Chicken

0.0h → 0.0h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 2005 to 2020, sorted by magnitude.

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

0.6x

easier

🏥
Doctor Visit

3.1h → 2.1h

0.7x

easier

🥛
Milk

0.1h → 0.1h

0.7x

easier

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.0h

0.8x

easier

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.2h

0.9x

easier

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

0.9x

easier

Coffee

0.1h → 0.1h

0.9x

easier

🎬
Movie Ticket

0.3h → 0.3h

0.9x

easier

🍞
Bread

0.0h → 0.0h

1.0x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 2005 ($46,330), you'd need $61,417 in 2020 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (195.3 → 258.9).

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