What’s Lost the Most Purchasing Power
The everyday things quietly costing you multiples of what they used to — with nothing to show for it.
- 1
Hospital services
Nearly 3x the pace of overall inflation over the same 22 years.
+220%
- 2
College tuition & fees
More than double the rate of overall inflation.
+178%
- 3
College textbooks
+162%
- 4
Medical care services
+130%
- 5
Child care
+115%
- 6
Movie & concert admissions
+113%
- 7
Food & beverages
Only barely outpaced overall inflation (+74.4%).
+82%
- 8
Housing (shelter)
The outlier here — it rose faster than inflation, but slower than wages (+99.6%).
+80%
US-only data. Overall inflation rose 74.4% and average wages rose 99.6% over the same period — anything above roughly 100% represents a real, not just nominal, loss of purchasing power.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Consumer Price Index (Jan 2000 – Jun 2022)
- American Enterprise Institute — "Chart of the Day…or Century?" (BLS data aggregation) (2022)
Last updated August 2026
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