View Standard of Living Change (hover mouse over graphs to view details)
This chart includes several graphs that give some idea how standard of living is doing. The graphs show a percentage change compared to a 2002 baseline.
- Consumer Price Index (CPI) as a percent of a January 2002 baseline. This is the inflation rate of consumer prices.
- Median Income as a percent of a March 2002 baseline (the earliest date available in the government’s data set). The median income graph is below the CPI indicating that income is not keeping up with the inflation of consumer prices.
- Seasonally Adjusted Home Price as a percent of a March 2002 baseline. This graph clearly shows the real estate housing bubble and the subsequent rapid decline in home values. It appears that home prices have bottomed out and are now beginning to rise again.
The data sets are from:
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics – Consumer Price Index (CPI) urban
- U.S. Census Bureau – Median Income – Table H-9 All Races
- U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency Purchase Only Indexes (Estimated using Sales Price Data) Monthly
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics – Fuel Oil, Per Gallon – APU000072511
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics – Gasoline, All Types – APU00007471A
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics – Gasoline, Unleaded Regular – APU000074714
USA Facts 