HarderToEarn.com

2009 vs 2019

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$49,780 $68,700

+38.0%

Median Home

$215,650 $320,250

+48.5%

Housing Labor

4.3yr 4.7yr

1.1x harder

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 2009 Price 2019 Price Change Hours 2009 Hours 2019 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $1.66 $1.40 -16% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🍞 Bread $1.39 $1.30 -6% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🥛 Milk $3.11 $3.04 -2% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
⛽ Gas $2.35 $2.64 +12% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥩 Ground Beef $2.22 $3.81 +71% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🐔 Chicken $1.28 $1.50 +17% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🥓 Bacon $3.61 $5.61 +56% 0.2h 0.2h Harder
☕ Coffee $3.67 $4.14 +13% 0.2h 0.1h Easier
🍊 Oranges $4.32 $4.81 +11% 0.2h 0.1h Easier
🍬 Sugar $10.07 $12.06 +20% 0.4h 0.4h Easier
⚡ Electricity $0.13 $0.14 +7% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🎓 College Tuition $6,695 $9,349 +40% 279.7h 283.1h Harder
🚗 New Car $28,400 $38,723 +36% 1186.7h 1172.4h Easier
🏠 Monthly Rent $784 $1,043 +33% 32.7h 31.6h Easier
🏥 Doctor Visit $70.76 $81.15 +15% 3.0h 2.5h Easier
🎬 Movie Ticket $7.18 $8.72 +22% 0.3h 0.3h Easier

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 2009 to 2019, sorted by magnitude.

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.1h

1.2x

harder

🥓
Bacon

0.2h → 0.2h

1.1x

harder

🎓
College Tuition

279.7h → 283.1h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 2009 to 2019, sorted by magnitude.

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.0h

0.6x

easier

🍞
Bread

0.1h → 0.0h

0.7x

easier

🥛
Milk

0.1h → 0.1h

0.7x

easier

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

0.8x

easier

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

Coffee

0.2h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

🏥
Doctor Visit

3.0h → 2.5h

0.8x

easier

🐔
Chicken

0.1h → 0.0h

0.8x

easier

🍬
Sugar

0.4h → 0.4h

0.9x

easier

🎬
Movie Ticket

0.3h → 0.3h

0.9x

easier

🏠
Monthly Rent

32.7h → 31.6h

1.0x

easier

🚗
New Car

1186.7h → 1172.4h

1.0x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 2009 ($49,780), you'd need $59,313 in 2019 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (214.6 → 255.7).

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