We've been tracking prices across 15 categories since 2019 — groceries, housing, energy, streaming, insurance, wages, and more. Each has its own tracker page with detailed data and analysis. But sometimes you want the big picture: how does everything compare on a single chart?

Inspired by Mark J. Perry's iconic "Price Changes" chart, we built our own version using the indexes we track. The chart starts in January 2019 and shows the percent change for every category through early 2026.

The Chart

View the full interactive chart →

The thick dashed black line is overall inflation (CPI-U), up 28% since 2019. Everything above that line has outpaced inflation. Everything below has risen more slowly — or actually gotten cheaper.

What Stands Out

The worst offenders

Eggs (+84%) have been the most volatile item we track. They spiked to +236% above 2019 levels in early 2025 during the avian flu crisis before crashing back. Even after the correction, they're still nearly double their 2019 price.

Ground beef (+77%) tells a quieter but more relentless story — a steady, unbroken climb driven by the smallest U.S. cattle herd since the 1960s. Unlike eggs, there's been no correction and none is expected soon.

Home prices (+56%) surged during the pandemic on record-low mortgage rates and have barely corrected since. The "lock-in effect" — homeowners sitting on 3% mortgages refusing to sell into a 7% rate market — has kept inventory tight and prices elevated.

The sticky middle

Electricity (+48%), rent (+41%), Netflix (+39%), restaurants (+36%), and auto insurance (+32%) have all outpaced overall inflation. These are the bills that make paychecks feel shorter even when headline inflation is "only" 2-3%.

Keeping pace

Wages (+28%) have almost exactly matched overall inflation — which sounds okay until you realize that "keeping pace" means your paycheck buys the same amount as 2019, not more. For many workers, especially in the middle, real purchasing power has been flat or slightly negative.

What's actually cheaper

Chicken wings (-28%) are genuinely cheaper than 2019, thanks to supply recovery after the 2021 spike. Apple Music (+10%) and gas (+24%) have also risen less than overall inflation, making them relative bargains.

The takeaway

Overall inflation is up 28% since 2019. But that single number hides enormous variation. Your personal inflation rate depends heavily on what you spend money on. If you rent, eat beef, and drive — your cost of living has risen far more than 28%. If you're a homeowner with a fixed mortgage, eat chicken, and stream Apple Music — you've done better than the average.

Explore the full interactive chart → Click any category in the legend to show or hide it, and hover for exact values.

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