A gallon of milk is actually cheaper than it was in 1996. Housing, college tuition, and cars...not so much.

A note on methodology: All 1990s prices were converted to 2026 dollars using the BLS CPI-U Inflation Calculator. 

A note on the numbers: These are national averages. Actual prices vary significantly by region. A gallon of milk in Hawaii costs roughly double the national average, rent in San Francisco or New York City runs 2–3 times the US median, and gas prices in California are typically $1 or more higher than in Texas. Treat these as directional, not what's on the shelf at your local store.

Employer health insurance premiums have more than doubled in real terms. Public college tuition is up roughly 80%. The median home price has risen 67%. Even bacon and ground beef are up 66% and 132%, driven in part by the US cattle herd sitting at a 50-plus year low. 

Rent tells two slightly different stories depending on how you measure it. Census ACS puts it up around 36%, while the Zillow Rent Index, which captures newer, market-rate units, lands closer to 80%. Both point in the same direction.

Cars sit in a similar category. The average new-car transaction price is about 29% higher in real terms than it was in the mid-'90s, and the typical used car is up closer to 57%. Some of that reflects a shift toward SUVs and trucks, and some reflects added technology, but either way, it shows up as a larger share of income going to transportation.

Milk is cheaper in real terms than it was in the mid-'90s. Electricity is essentially flat. The NYC subway is slightly down. A CD album costs about the same nominally as it did 25 years ago, which makes it effectively half the price in real dollars, before accounting for the fact that a $14 monthly subscription to Spotify replaces the category entirely. 

Even items like coffee, bread, stamps, and fast food have only modestly exceeded inflation.

Sources: BLS CPI Inflation Calculator | BLS Average Price Data via FRED | The Economist Big Mac Index | US Energy Information Administration | Kelley Blue Book / Cox Automotive | National Association of Realtors | US Census Bureau: American Community Survey | Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey | College Board | Kaiser Family Foundation | US Department of Labor | US Census Bureau: Income in the United States | EIA: Gasoline Weekly Retail Prices | EIA: Diesel Weekly Retail Prices | USPS | MTA | FCC: Report on Cable Industry Prices | Cord Cutters News | Park Lore | New York Times | Steve Hoffman Music Forum