Typical wages in 1860 through 1890
Found a great resource that provides a frame of reference for wages in the last half of the 1800s. It is from the National Bureau of Economic Research:
Wages and Earnings in the United States, 1860-1890
Perhaps there are better resources. I’ll go with this.
In table 39, you can find average daily or hourly wages in five skilled occupations. Count this as skilled tradesmen. In table 43 you can find the average wages for common labor. Count this as unskilled labor, perhaps equivalent to minimum wage today.
I will go with the Aldrich report data which is hourly wages. It appears the standard is 10 hours a day. I will go six days a week to get weekly income.
Here is the average hourly wage:
- Occupation 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890
- blacksmith, 0.178, 0.304, 0.259, 0.271
- carpenter, 0.182, 0.410, 0.276, 0.322
- machinist 0.158, 0.260, 0.227, 0.243
- laborers, 0.098, 0.156, 0.135, 0.151
Here is the average weekly wage for 60 hours a week:
- Occupation 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890
- blacksmith, 10.68, 18.24, 15.54, 16.26
- carpenter, 10.92, 24.60, 16.56, 19.32
- machinist, 9.48, 15.60, 13.62, 14.58
- laborers, 5.88, 9.36, 8.10, 9.06
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