Price Changes of Consumer Goods and Services Since 2000

Key points from the chart

• The chart tracks price changes for 14 US consumer goods and services from January 2000, using Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price data.
• Services at the top rose far faster than overall prices: hospital services, college tuition, textbooks, medical care and childcare.
• Goods at the bottom got cheaper: clothing, cellphone services, software, toys and, most of all, televisions.
• The chart says prices overall rose 74% since 2000. BLS index data give 75.8% from January 2000 to December 2022 [3].
• Visual Capitalist credits the original design and concept to economist Mark J. Perry of the American Enterprise Institute [1].

The chart in text

Title: Price Changes of Consumer Goods and Services. Introduction printed on the chart: “Broadly speaking, price levels have increased by 74% since 2000. That said, the actual numbers vary wildly depending on the type of good or service. Many consumer goods like toys and TVs have gotten cheaper, while critical categories like healthcare and education have skyrocketed.”

Vertical axis: Change since January 2000, from minus 100% to plus 200%. Horizontal axis: 2000, 2010, 2020. Background labels: More expensive (top) and Cheaper (bottom). Lines in red get more expensive and lines in blue get cheaper. Categories from top to bottom where the lines end:

1. Hospital services
2. College tuition and fees
3. College textbooks
4. Medical care services
5. Childcare
6. Food and beverage
7. Housing
8. New cars
9. Household furnishings
10. Clothing
11. Cellphone services
12. Software
13. Toys
14. Televisions

Footer: Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Original design and concept by Mark J. Perry, Senior Fellow Emeritus, AEI. Visual Capitalist, visualcapitalist.com.

The figures behind each line

The chart shows lines but prints no value for each category. The table gives the change in the matching BLS consumer price index for all urban consumers from January 2000 to December 2022, worked out by us from the index levels [3][4]. Visual Capitalist’s own article gives 178% for tuition and 162% for textbooks since 2000 [1]; the exact end month of its chart is not stated, so its figures differ slightly from ours.

Why the lines split apart

Visual Capitalist links the rises in healthcare to labour costs, an ageing population, new technology and the pricing of drugs and hospital services [1]. For education, it notes that tuition roughly tracked inflation in the 1960s and 1970s before rising faster from the mid 1980s [1]. These are services that are hard to move abroad or automate.

The falling lines are mostly goods that can be made overseas or improved quickly by technology. Visual Capitalist says a flat screen television cost about 17% of median income around 2000 and less than 1% when it wrote in 2023, and that clothing and household furnishings stayed roughly flat over the long run even after the recent inflation [1]. Price indexes also adjust for quality, so a cheaper TV index partly reflects that a set today does far more than one from 2000.

Notes on this infographic

• The chart was published in February 2023 and ends in 2022 [1]. It does not show later price changes.
• The overall figure printed on the chart is 74%. BLS data give 75.8% for January 2000 to December 2022 [3]; the small gap depends on the end month used.
• These are price changes before adjusting for incomes. A category can rise faster than prices overall and still take a similar share of a household budget if wages rise too.
• BLS has no college textbook index for January 2000, so we could not check the textbook line ourselves; Visual Capitalist’s figure is 162% [1].

Questions about US price changes since 2000

How much have prices gone up since 2000 in the US?

Visual Capitalist's chart says prices overall rose 74% since 2000. BLS index data give 75.8% for all items from January 2000 to December 2022 [3]; the small gap depends on the end month used. The chart was published in February 2023 and ends in 2022, so it does not show later price changes [1].

How much has college tuition increased since 2000?

College tuition and fees rose 181.1% from January 2000 to December 2022, based on the BLS consumer price index [3][4]. Visual Capitalist's own article gives 178% for tuition and 162% for college textbooks since 2000 [1]. It notes that tuition roughly tracked inflation in the 1960s and 1970s before rising faster from the mid 1980s [1].

How much have hospital prices risen since 2000?

Hospital services rose 225.3% from January 2000 to December 2022, the largest rise of the 14 categories on the chart [3][4]. Medical care services rose 131.6% and childcare 122.5% over the same period, against 75.8% for all items [3]. Visual Capitalist links the healthcare rises to labour costs, an ageing population, new technology and the pricing of drugs and hospital services [1].

How much have TV prices dropped since 2000?

The BLS price index for televisions fell 97.7% from January 2000 to December 2022, the biggest fall on the chart [3][4]. Visual Capitalist says a flat screen television cost about 17% of median income around 2000 and less than 1% in 2023 [1]. Price indexes also adjust for quality, so the fall partly reflects that a set today does far more than one from 2000.

Sources

1. Nick Routley, Consumer Price Inflation, by Type of Good or Service (2000 to 2022), Visual Capitalist, 22 February 2023, the creator’s post of this chart.
2. World Economic Forum, How have US goods and services changed in price since 2000?, republished in collaboration with Visual Capitalist, February 2023.
3. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index databases, CPI-U US city average, not seasonally adjusted, series listed in the table.
4. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Public Data API, used to download the index levels for January 2000 and December 2022.

Last reviewed 30 October 2026