2002
9 different songs reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2002, starting with How You Remind Me by Nickelback. No single song ran away with the year: Foolish (Ashanti) and Dilemma (Nelly Featuring Kelly Rowland) shared the longest stay at the top, 10 weeks each within 2002.
Prices rose 1.6% over 2001, a calm year by historical standards. One dollar in 2002 buys about what $1.79 buys in 2025.
A gallon of regular gas averaged $1.36, down 7% from 2001. In 2025 dollars that is $2.43, against an actual 2025 average of $3.26.
Mailing a letter took a 37¢ stamp (it is 73¢ in 2025), and the federal minimum wage was $5.15 an hour.
Every #1 hit of 2002
| Song | Artist | First week at #1 | Weeks at #1 in 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|
| How You Remind Me | Nickelback | Jan 5 | 2 |
| U Got It Bad | Usher | Jan 19 | 5 |
| Always On Time | Ja Rule Featuring Ashanti | Feb 23 | 2 |
| Ain't It Funny | Jennifer Lopez Featuring Ja Rule | Mar 9 | 6 |
| Foolish | Ashanti | Apr 20 | 10 |
| Hot In Herre | Nelly | Jun 29 | 7 |
| Dilemma | Nelly Featuring Kelly Rowland | Aug 17 | 10 |
| A Moment Like This | Kelly Clarkson | Oct 5 | 2 |
| Lose Yourself | Eminem | Nov 9 | 8 |
Weeks are counted within 2002; a song that carried over from 2001 or into 2003 shows only its 2002 weeks.
What things cost in 2002
| Item | 2002 price | In 2025 dollars | Actual 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gallon of regular gas | $1.36 | $2.43 | $3.26 |
| Dozen large eggs | $1.03 | $1.85 | $4.25 |
| Loaf of white bread (per lb) | $1.02 | $1.82 | $1.87 |
| Gallon of whole milk | $2.76 | $4.93 | $4.07 |
| Ground beef (per lb) | $1.71 | $3.07 | $6.09 |
| Whole chicken (per lb) | $1.07 | $1.92 | $2.06 |
| Bacon (per lb) | $3.24 | $5.79 | $7.02 |
| Ground coffee (per lb) | $2.92 | $5.23 | $8.18 |
| Bananas (per lb) | $0.51 | $0.91 | $0.65 |
| Sugar (per lb) | $0.43 | $0.77 | $1.02 |
| Potatoes (per lb) | $0.49 | $0.88 | $0.96 |
| Flour (per lb) | $0.31 | $0.56 | $0.56 |
| Electricity (per kWh) | $0.09 | $0.16 | $0.18 |
| Federal minimum wage (per hour) | $5.15 | $9.22 | $7.25 |
| Median new home sale price | $186,025 | $332,950 | $415,400 |
| First-class stamp | 37¢ | 66¢ | 73¢ |
Compare 2002 prices with any amount → · Find the #1 song on any day in 2002 →
The internet in 2002
See the web as it looked in 2002:
Yahoo! ↗Netscape ↗AOL ↗CNN ↗Amazon ↗Apple ↗Microsoft ↗The White House ↗GeoCities ↗Space Jam ↗eBay ↗Google ↗Napster ↗Wikipedia ↗
Links open the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine at its capture nearest July 1, 2002.
