HarderToEarn.com

2008 vs 2013

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$50,300 $53,590

+6.5%

Median Home

$229,550 $266,225

+16.0%

Housing Labor

4.6yr 5.0yr

1.1x harder

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 2008 Price 2013 Price Change Hours 2008 Hours 2013 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $1.99 $1.91 -4% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🍞 Bread $1.37 $1.41 +3% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥛 Milk $3.80 $3.46 -9% 0.2h 0.1h Easier
⛽ Gas $3.27 $3.53 +8% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🥩 Ground Beef $2.34 $3.40 +45% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🐔 Chicken $1.21 $1.50 +24% 0.0h 0.1h Harder
🥓 Bacon $3.66 $5.29 +44% 0.2h 0.2h Harder
🍊 Oranges $4.21 $4.99 +19% 0.2h 0.2h Harder
🍬 Sugar $9.45 $10.72 +13% 0.4h 0.4h Harder
⚡ Electricity $0.12 $0.13 +7% 0.0h 0.0h Harder
🎓 College Tuition $6,185 $8,312 +34% 255.8h 322.6h Harder
🚗 New Car $27,291 $32,086 +18% 1128.5h 1245.4h Harder
🏠 Monthly Rent $766 $843 +10% 31.7h 32.7h Harder
🏥 Doctor Visit $96.75 $106 +9% 4.0h 4.1h Harder
🎬 Movie Ticket $7.07 $7.59 +7% 0.3h 0.3h Harder

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 2008 to 2013, sorted by magnitude.

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.1h

1.4x

harder

🥓
Bacon

0.2h → 0.2h

1.4x

harder

🎓
College Tuition

255.8h → 322.6h

1.3x

harder

🐔
Chicken

0.0h → 0.1h

1.2x

harder

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.2h

1.1x

harder

🚗
New Car

1128.5h → 1245.4h

1.1x

harder

🍬
Sugar

0.4h → 0.4h

1.1x

harder

🏠
Monthly Rent

31.7h → 32.7h

1.0x

harder

🏥
Doctor Visit

4.0h → 4.1h

1.0x

harder

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

1.0x

harder

🎬
Movie Ticket

0.3h → 0.3h

1.0x

harder

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 2008 to 2013, sorted by magnitude.

🥛
Milk

0.2h → 0.1h

0.9x

easier

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.1h

0.9x

easier

🍞
Bread

0.1h → 0.1h

1.0x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 2008 ($50,300), you'd need $54,436 in 2013 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (215.3 → 233.0).

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