An hour of work priced in Bitcoin: 2014 to 2025
Priced in fiat
Priced in sats
An hour of work cost $24.46 in 2014 and $36.44 in 2025 — a change of +49% in US dollars across 11 years. The figures are annual averages from US BLS, Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private (CES0500000003) (series CES0500000003). Measured in dollars, the price rose, peaking in 2025 at $36.44.
Priced in bitcoin, the same thing went from 0.046 BTC in 2014 to 35,708 sats in 2025 — a change of −99%. That is roughly 129× cheaper in bitcoin terms. The conversion uses the annual average BTC/USD price for each matching year, never a rate borrowed from a different era.
Bitcoin is volatile, and honesty demands showing the steps that ran against the holder. The least flattering single year for this series in bitcoin terms was 2014 to 2015, when the price rose +98% in sats. Over short windows the melting unit can look like the stable one. The direction across the full series is what the chart shows.
At today's spot price, an hour of work works out to about 58,807 sats ($37.64). The same object, the same shelf — a different measuring stick.
| Year | US dollars | In bitcoin |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $24.46 | 0.046 BTC |
| 2015 | $25.01 | 0.092 BTC |
| 2016 | $25.65 | 0.044 BTC |
| 2017 | $26.31 | 622,722 sats |
| 2018 | $27.10 | 371,691 sats |
| 2019 | $28 | 377,104 sats |
| 2020 | $29.36 | 248,814 sats |
| 2021 | $30.61 | 64,168 sats |
| 2022 | $32.26 | 116,277 sats |
| 2023 | $33.70 | 114,396 sats |
| 2024 | $35.06 | 52,494 sats |
| 2025 | $36.44 | 35,708 sats |
Source: US BLS, Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private (CES0500000003). Bitcoin price = annual average BTC/USD from Kraken weekly closes; “today” uses the current spot (2026-07-09). Full method on the main page.
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