HarderToEarn.com

2010 vs 2021

The Cost of Living Comparison

Median Income

$49,280 $70,780

+43.6%

Median Home

$222,700 $383,000

+72.0%

Housing Labor

4.5yr 5.4yr

1.2x harder

📊 Full Item Comparison

Item 2010 Price 2021 Price Change Hours 2010 Hours 2021 Verdict
🥚 Eggs $1.66 $1.67 +1% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🍞 Bread $1.37 $1.52 +11% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🥛 Milk $3.26 $3.54 +9% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
⛽ Gas $2.79 $3.05 +9% 0.1h 0.1h Easier
🥩 Ground Beef $2.37 $4.33 +83% 0.1h 0.1h Harder
🐔 Chicken $1.26 $1.53 +21% 0.1h 0.0h Easier
🥓 Bacon $4.11 $6.64 +62% 0.2h 0.2h Harder
☕ Coffee $3.91 $4.71 +20% 0.2h 0.1h Easier
🍊 Oranges $4.46 $4.89 +10% 0.2h 0.1h Easier
🍬 Sugar $9.65 $13.19 +37% 0.4h 0.4h Easier
⚡ Electricity $0.13 $0.14 +10% 0.0h 0.0h Easier
🎓 College Tuition $7,136 $9,375 +31% 301.2h 275.5h Easier
🚗 New Car $29,217 $42,258 +45% 1233.2h 1241.8h Harder
🏠 Monthly Rent $786 $1,100 +40% 33.2h 32.3h Easier
🏥 Doctor Visit $83.69 $92.47 +10% 3.5h 2.7h Easier
🎬 Movie Ticket $7.29 $9.12 +25% 0.3h 0.3h Easier

📈 Got Harder to Earn

Items where labor hours increased from 2010 to 2021, sorted by magnitude.

🥩
Ground Beef

0.1h → 0.1h

1.3x

harder

🥓
Bacon

0.2h → 0.2h

1.1x

harder

🚗
New Car

1233.2h → 1241.8h

1.0x

harder

📉 Got Easier to Earn

Items where labor hours decreased from 2010 to 2021, sorted by magnitude.

🥚
Eggs

0.1h → 0.0h

0.7x

easier

🥛
Milk

0.1h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

Gas

0.1h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

🍊
Oranges

0.2h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

Electricity

0.0h → 0.0h

0.8x

easier

🏥
Doctor Visit

3.5h → 2.7h

0.8x

easier

🍞
Bread

0.1h → 0.0h

0.8x

easier

Coffee

0.2h → 0.1h

0.8x

easier

🐔
Chicken

0.1h → 0.0h

0.8x

easier

🎬
Movie Ticket

0.3h → 0.3h

0.9x

easier

🎓
College Tuition

301.2h → 275.5h

0.9x

easier

🍬
Sugar

0.4h → 0.4h

1.0x

easier

🏠
Monthly Rent

33.2h → 32.3h

1.0x

easier

💵 Purchasing Power

If you earned the median income in 2010 ($49,280), you'd need $61,232 in 2021 to maintain the same lifestyle.

Based on CPI adjustment (218.1 → 271.0).

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