HarderToEarn.com

2009 vs 2015

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$49,780 $56,520

+13.5%

Median Home

$215,650 $294,150

+36.4%

Housing Labor

4.3yr 5.2yr

1.2x harder

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 2009 Price 2015 Price Change Hours 2009 Hours 2015 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $1.66 $2.47 +48% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🍞 Bread $1.39 $1.44 +4% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥛 Milk $3.11 $3.42 +10% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
⛽ Gas $2.35 $2.45 +4% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥩 Ground Beef $2.22 $4.17 +88% 0.1h 0.2h Harder
🐔 Chicken $1.28 $1.49 +16% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🥓 Bacon $3.61 $5.45 +51% 0.2h 0.2h Harder
☕ Coffee $3.67 $4.72 +29% 0.2h 0.2h Harder
🍊 Oranges $4.32 $4.74 +10% 0.2h 0.2h Easier
🍬 Sugar $10.07 $12.25 +22% 0.4h 0.5h Harder
⚡ Electricity $0.13 $0.14 +9% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🎓 College Tuition $6,695 $8,778 +31% 279.7h 323.0h Harder
🚗 New Car $28,400 $34,428 +21% 1186.7h 1267.0h Harder
🏠 Monthly Rent $784 $901 +15% 32.7h 33.2h Harder
🏥 Doctor Visit $70.76 $74.01 +5% 3.0h 2.7h Easier
🎬 Movie Ticket $7.18 $7.90 +10% 0.3h 0.3h Easier

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 2009 to 2015, sorted by magnitude.

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.2h

1.7x

harder

🥓
Bacon

0.2h → 0.2h

1.3x

harder

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.1h

1.3x

harder

🎓
College Tuition

279.7h → 323.0h

1.2x

harder

Coffee

0.2h → 0.2h

1.1x

harder

🍬
Sugar

0.4h → 0.5h

1.1x

harder

🚗
New Car

1186.7h → 1267.0h

1.1x

harder

🐔
Chicken

0.1h → 0.1h

1.0x

harder

🏠
Monthly Rent

32.7h → 33.2h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 2009 to 2015, sorted by magnitude.

🍞
Bread

0.1h → 0.1h

0.9x

easier

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

0.9x

easier

🏥
Doctor Visit

3.0h → 2.7h

0.9x

easier

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

1.0x

easier

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.2h

1.0x

easier

🥛
Milk

0.1h → 0.1h

1.0x

easier

🎬
Movie Ticket

0.3h → 0.3h

1.0x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 2009 ($49,780), you'd need $54,986 in 2015 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (214.6 → 237.0).

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