Price Year
Each receipt shows three real U.S. average prices from one year between 1980 and today. Slide to the year you think it is. Five receipts, up to 200 points each.
Loading today's receipts…
How to read a receipt
No single price gives the year away. Eggs spiked in 2015, fell back, and spiked again from 2022. Gas stayed under $1.40 a gallon through the 1980s and 1990s, averaged over $3 in 2008 and over $4 in 2022. Coffee was cheaper in 1993 than in 1980. Read the three prices together and the year narrows fast.
Every receipt is picked so that no year four or more away from the answer has similar prices on all three lines, so the year can be worked out, not just guessed. A guess one year off scores 175 of 200; eight or more years off scores nothing.
Minutes of work
After each receipt you see how long it took to earn that basket at the average hourly wage for production and nonsupervisory workers, then and now. Prices have risen, but for most groceries pay rose faster: a pound of coffee took about 27 minutes of work in 1980 and about 11 in 2020.
Questions
How do you play Price Year?
A daily price history game: five receipts of real U.S. grocery and gas prices from 1980 to today. Guess the year of each and score out of 1,000. Sourced from BLS average price data.
When does Price Year reset?
A new Price Year puzzle starts at midnight in your own time zone. Everyone gets the same puzzle on the same date, so you can compare scores with friends.
Can I play yesterday's Price Year?
Yes. The games archive replays every past Price Year puzzle. Archive plays are saved apart from today's game and never change your streak.
Where can I find past Price Year answers?
The answers page lists every Price Year answer with the figures behind it. Each day goes up two days after it ends, so no puzzle that is still live anywhere gets spoiled.
Where do the Price Year numbers come from?
Prices are U.S. city averages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics average price series, from 1980 on. Every figure is a published number with its source named on the page, and the methodology page lists each source and its licence.
Is Price Year free?
Yes. There is no account, no download and no paywall. Your results stay in your own browser.