HarderToEarn.com

2008 vs 2009

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$50,300 $49,780

-1.0%

Median Home

$229,550 $215,650

-6.1%

Housing Labor

4.6yr 4.3yr

1.1x easier

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 2008 Price 2009 Price Change Hours 2008 Hours 2009 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $1.99 $1.66 -16% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🍞 Bread $1.37 $1.39 +2% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🥛 Milk $3.80 $3.11 -18% 0.2h 0.1h Easier
⛽ Gas $3.27 $2.35 -28% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥩 Ground Beef $2.34 $2.22 -5% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🐔 Chicken $1.21 $1.28 +6% 0.0h 0.1h Harder
🥓 Bacon $3.66 $3.61 -1% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
🍊 Oranges $4.21 $4.32 +3% 0.2h 0.2h Harder
🍬 Sugar $9.45 $10.07 +7% 0.4h 0.4h Harder
⚡ Electricity $0.12 $0.13 +3% 0.0h 0.0h Harder
🎓 College Tuition $6,185 $6,695 +8% 255.8h 279.7h Harder
🚗 New Car $27,291 $28,400 +4% 1128.5h 1186.7h Harder
🏠 Monthly Rent $766 $784 +2% 31.7h 32.7h Harder
🏥 Doctor Visit $96.75 $70.76 -27% 4.0h 3.0h Easier
🎬 Movie Ticket $7.07 $7.18 +2% 0.3h 0.3h Harder

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 2008 to 2009, sorted by magnitude.

🎓
College Tuition

255.8h → 279.7h

1.1x

harder

🍬
Sugar

0.4h → 0.4h

1.1x

harder

🐔
Chicken

0.0h → 0.1h

1.1x

harder

🚗
New Car

1128.5h → 1186.7h

1.1x

harder

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

1.0x

harder

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.2h

1.0x

harder

🏠
Monthly Rent

31.7h → 32.7h

1.0x

harder

🎬
Movie Ticket

0.3h → 0.3h

1.0x

harder

🍞
Bread

0.1h → 0.1h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 2008 to 2009, sorted by magnitude.

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

0.7x

easier

🏥
Doctor Visit

4.0h → 3.0h

0.7x

easier

🥛
Milk

0.2h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.1h

1.0x

easier

🥓
Bacon

0.2h → 0.2h

1.0x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 2008 ($50,300), you'd need $50,139 in 2009 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (215.3 → 214.6).

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