Things that got cheaper (after inflation)
Most prices go up every year, but that doesn't mean everything got more expensive. Once you adjust for inflation, 34 of the 81 items with 15 or more years of history in our data cost less today than they used to.
The table compares each item's oldest price, turned into today's money with the consumer price index (CPI), with its latest price. If the latest price is lower than "in today's money", the item takes a smaller share of a typical budget than it did back then. The cheapest-in-real-terms come first.
| Item | Then | In today's money | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rice (farm price) | $12.80 (1980) | $48.73 | $15.10 (2024) |
| Soybeans (farm price) | $7.57 (1980) | $28.82 | $10.00 (2024) |
| Corn (farm price) | $3.11 (1980) | $11.84 | $4.24 (2024) |
| Wheat (farm price) | $3.91 (1980) | $14.89 | $5.52 (2024) |
| Peanuts (farm price) | $0.24 (1985) | $0.70 | $0.26 (2024) |
| Cotton (farm price) | $0.56 (1985) | $1.63 | $0.66 (2024) |
| Chicken legs | $1.07 (1980) | $4.18 | $1.79 (2025) |
| Bananas | $0.34 (1980) | $1.33 | $0.65 (2025) |
| Rice | $0.51 (1980) | $1.99 | $1.05 (2025) |
| Federal gas tax | $0.40 (1970) | $3.32 | $1.84 (2025) |
| Spaghetti and macaroni | $0.74 (1985) | $2.21 | $1.32 (2025) |
| Pork chops (bone-in) | $1.95 (1980) | $7.62 | $4.56 (2025) |
| Sugar | $0.43 (1980) | $1.68 | $1.02 (2025) |
| Medicare Part B deductible | $50.00 (1970) | $415 | $257 (2025) |
| Plane ticket | $292 (1995) | $617 | $387 (2025) |
| Cheddar cheese | $3.09 (1985) | $9.24 | $5.84 (2025) |
| Boneless pork chops | $3.89 (2000) | $7.27 | $4.63 (2025) |
| Thanksgiving dinner | $28.74 (1986) | $84.41 | $55.18 (2025) |
| American cheese | $2.53 (1985) | $7.57 | $4.95 (2025) |
| Ground coffee | $3.14 (1980) | $12.27 | $8.18 (2025) |
| Regular gas | $1.25 (1980) | $4.88 | $3.26 (2025) |
| Flour | $0.21 (1980) | $0.82 | $0.56 (2025) |
| Tomatoes | $0.67 (1980) | $2.62 | $1.84 (2025) |
| Lemons | $0.70 (1980) | $2.73 | $2.00 (2025) |
| Whole chicken | $0.71 (1980) | $2.77 | $2.06 (2025) |
| Round roast | $2.61 (1980) | $10.20 | $7.96 (2025) |
| Whole milk (gallon) | $2.78 (2000) | $5.20 | $4.07 (2025) |
| Electricity | $60.00 (1980) | $234 | $185 (2025) |
| Chocolate chip cookies | $1.58 (1980) | $6.17 | $5.05 (2025) |
| Round steak | $2.77 (1980) | $10.82 | $8.86 (2025) |
| Potato chips | $2.04 (1980) | $7.97 | $6.71 (2025) |
| Hay (farm price) | $67.60 (1985) | $197 | $166 (2024) |
| Ground chuck | $1.83 (1980) | $7.15 | $6.14 (2025) |
| Ice cream (half gallon) | $1.82 (1980) | $7.11 | $6.37 (2025) |
How to read this
A falling real price does not always mean a lower price tag. Chicken legs, for example, costs more dollars today than in 1980 ($1.79 against $1.07), yet less than its 1980 price grown with inflation ($4.18). Prices here are US averages; your local shop can be higher or lower.
Farm and metal prices are what producers receive, so they swing much more from year to year than shop prices. See how we adjust for inflation, or the opposite list: the biggest price increases.