2004
12 different songs reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2004. The year opened with Hey Ya! by OutKast at the top, and Yeah! by Usher Featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris held #1 the longest — 12 weeks in 2004.
Prices rose 2.7% over 2003, a calm year by historical standards. One dollar in 2004 buys about what $1.70 buys in 2025.
A gallon of regular gas averaged $1.88, up 18% from 2003. In 2025 dollars that is $3.20, 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 2004
| Song | Artist | First week at #1 | Weeks at #1 in 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hey Ya! | OutKast | Jan 3 | 6 |
| The Way You Move | OutKast Featuring Sleepy Brown | Feb 14 | 1 |
| Slow Jamz | Twista Featuring Kanye West & Jamie Foxx | Feb 21 | 1 |
| Yeah! | Usher Featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris | Feb 28 | 12 |
| Burn | Usher | May 22 | 8 |
| I Believe | Fantasia | Jul 10 | 1 |
| Confessions Part II | Usher | Jul 24 | 2 |
| Slow Motion | Juvenile Featuring Soulja Slim | Aug 7 | 2 |
| Lean Back | Terror Squad | Aug 21 | 3 |
| Goodies | Ciara Featuring Petey Pablo | Sep 11 | 7 |
| My Boo | Usher And Alicia Keys | Oct 30 | 6 |
| Drop It Like It's Hot | Snoop Dogg Featuring Pharrell | Dec 11 | 3 |
Weeks are counted within 2004; a song that carried over from 2003 or into 2005 shows only its 2004 weeks.
What things cost in 2004
| Item | 2004 price | In 2025 dollars | Actual 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gallon of regular gas | $1.88 | $3.20 | $3.26 |
| Dozen large eggs | $1.34 | $2.28 | $4.25 |
| Loaf of white bread (per lb) | $0.97 | $1.65 | $1.87 |
| Gallon of whole milk | $3.16 | $5.38 | $4.07 |
| Ground beef (per lb) | $2.16 | $3.68 | $6.09 |
| Whole chicken (per lb) | $1.07 | $1.82 | $2.06 |
| Bacon (per lb) | $3.38 | $5.75 | $7.02 |
| Ground coffee (per lb) | $2.85 | $4.86 | $8.18 |
| Bananas (per lb) | $0.49 | $0.84 | $0.65 |
| Sugar (per lb) | $0.43 | $0.73 | $1.02 |
| Potatoes (per lb) | $0.45 | $0.77 | $0.96 |
| Flour (per lb) | $0.30 | $0.52 | $0.56 |
| Electricity (per kWh) | $0.09 | $0.16 | $0.18 |
| Federal minimum wage (per hour) | $5.15 | $8.78 | $7.25 |
| Median new home sale price | $218,150 | $371,827 | $415,400 |
| First-class stamp | 37¢ | 63¢ | 73¢ |
Compare 2004 prices with any amount → · Find the #1 song on any day in 2004 →
The internet in 2004
- February 4, 2004TheFacebook — Mark Zuckerberg launches TheFacebook for Harvard students. source
- April 1, 2004Gmail — Google announces Gmail with a full gigabyte of storage on April Fools' Day. Many people think it's a joke. source
See the web as it looked in 2004:
Yahoo! ↗Netscape ↗AOL ↗CNN ↗Amazon ↗Apple ↗Microsoft ↗The White House ↗GeoCities ↗Space Jam ↗eBay ↗Google ↗Napster ↗Wikipedia ↗Myspace ↗
Links open the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine at its capture nearest July 1, 2004.
