Prices and Wages by Decade: Up through 1779

WAGES in CONNECTICUT

Recommended reading: Colonial Currency in History of Wages in the United States from Colonial Times to 1928.

• Wages by occupation - New Haven CT, 1640-1641
  Shows wages with and without board. Expressed in £sd. Source: Historical statistics of the U.S: colonial times to 1970, p. 1196.

WAGES in MARYLAND

Recommended reading: Colonial Currency in History of Wages in the United States from Colonial Times to 1928.

• Agricultural laborer wages - Maryland, 1638-1676
  Shows the wages in both pounds of tobacco (with its value shown) as well as in shillings and pence. Source: Historical statistics of the U.S: colonial times to 1970, p. 1196.
• Indentured servants' labor contracts in Maryland, 1634-1820
  The chapter "Indenture and the Custom of the Country" discusses how long one had to work in order to pay off the cost of an ocean voyage to America. Source: Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science (published 1904), p. 37.

WAGES in NEW HAMPSHIRE

Recommended reading: explanation of early money in the Introduction to the book History of old Chester from 1719 to 1869 by Benjamin Chase.

• Clergy
  • Minister's salary in 1731, 1768, 1770 (source)
  • Reverend's salary in 1746, 1756 & 1757, 1760, and 1766 (source)
• Educators
  • Schoolmaster salaries paid in 1737, 1746-49, and 1750-1755 (source)
  • Teacher salaries: 1757-1758, 1759-1765, 1766-1775, and 1776 (source)
• A tailor would have to work 6 days to buy one pound of tea in 1738
  (source, p. 14)
  Farm labor and women's wages in 1767. Source: NH BLS, 1872 rpt, p. 29.
• Labor, skilled and unskilled 
  • A day's wages in 1709. Source: NH BLS, 1872 rpt, p. 13.
  • A year's wages in 1732. Source: NH BLS, 1872 rpt, p. 13.
  • Military
    • Officers and soldiers wages from 1710 to 1756. Source: NH BLS, 1872 rpt, pp. 10-12.
    • Continental army salaries (privates, sergeants, corporals, a drummer) in 1776. Source: History of old Chester, p. 372.
    • Soldiers wages, 1777. Source: History of old Chester, p.140.
  • Tailor's wages per day in 1738. Source: NH BLS, 1872 rpt, p.14.
  • Women's labor for "common work" in 1777. Source: NH BLS, 1872 rpt, p. 20.

WAGES in PENNSYLVANIA

Recommended reading: Colonial Currency in History of Wages in the United States from Colonial Times to 1928.

• Prisoner of war wages and compensation, 1770s
  Tells wages paid to prisoners of the Continental Army (usually Hessians). There was at the time high demand for skilled weavers, tailors, shoemakers, stocking-makers, millers, bakers, butchers, carpenters, joiners, smiths, and plasterers. Source: History of Prisoner of War Utilization by the United States Army, 1776-1945, p. 16.

WAGES in RHODE ISLAND

Recommended reading: Colonial Currency in History of Wages in the United States from Colonial Times to 1928.

• Wages by occupation - Rhode Island, 1776 & 1779
  • Shows wages with and without board. Expressed in £sd. Source: Historical statistics of the U.S: Colonial times to 1970, p. 1196. 
• Pay for labor in Rhode Island, 1750s-1770s
  See the preface of this book for context and an explanation of the different money systems cited (old tenor, new tenor, lawful money, etc.)
  • Men's work was valued at 12 shillings per day in 1756
  • Mowing was valued at 3 pounds a day in 1759
  • Farm labor was valued at 1 pound, 10 shillings [per day] in 1759
  • Gardening was valued at 3 pounds per day in 1764
  • Carting was valued at 9 shillings (lawful tenor) per day in 1771
  • Carting wood was valued at 9 shillings (lawful tenor) per day in 1774
  • Mowing was valued at 3 shillings (lawful tenor) per day in 1779
• Clothing makers' pay in Rhode Island
  • Pay for weaving fabrics, calculated by the yard, 1755
  • Pay for one day of spinning, 1755
  • Pay for making a shirt, 1756
  • Pay to make a pair of britches, 1777
  • Pay to make a coat, 1779
• Housewife labor in Rhode Island "Housewifery" was valued at 25 shillings per week in 1757 and at 50 shillings per week in 1766. Source: original account book from the vicinity of South Kingston, Washington County, RI.
• Wage ceilings established in Rhode Island in response to war-time inflation, 1777
  • Farm labor wages, teamster rates, horse shoers, hiring out horses, house carpenters, ship carpenters, masons and tailors.

WAGES in SOUTH CAROLINA

Recommended reading: Colonial Currency in History of Wages in the United States from Colonial Times to 1928.

• Wages of selected occupations in South Carolina, 1710
  • Shows wages for workers with and without board furnished. Expressed in £sd. Source: Historical statistics of the U.S: colonial times to 1970

WAGES in VIRGINIA

Recommended reading: Colonial Currency in History of Wages in the United States from Colonial Times to 1928.

• Daily Wages of Select Occupations in Virginia, 1621 & 1781
  • Shows wages for workers with and without board furnished. Expressed in £sd. Source: Historical statistics of the U.S: colonial times to 1970
• Carpentry and building wages - York County VA, 1733
  • Shows the "account of work done" of a 17th century Virginian carpenter. Wages are shown in pounds and shillings as well as the equivalent in 1930 US dollars in brackets. Source: BLS Monthly labor review, Jan 1930.

• Building-trades wages
  • 1600s (17th century), pp. 5-7.
  • 1700s (18th century), pp. 7-11.
    • 1776 house carpenters and masons in Rhode Island, p. 36.
  • 1800s (19th century), pp. 12-15.
    Source: BLS Monthly labor review, Jan 1930.
• School master salaries
  • 1625 -- New Amsterdam, 360 florins per year
  • 1642 -- New Haven Connecticut, £20 per year
  • 1643 -- Roxbury Massachusetts, £20 per year
  • 1732 -- New York City, £40 per term

See food prices by colony below.

Prices of items for FARM and HOME, up through 1779

PRICES for OCEAN PASSAGE, up through 1779

PRICES for OVERLAND TRAVEL, up through 1779

PRICES for CLOTHING and SHOES, up through 1779

PRICES for HEALTH CARE, up through 1779

PRICES for TOBACCO, up through 1779

• Food prices in Connecticut, 1770s
  A farm family's account book shows a wide variety of items that were purchased, along with prices. Source: "Farm prices in two centuries," Report of the Statistician, USDA, p. 337.

• Food prices in Philadelphia, 1779
  In 1779, Philadelphia set price ceilings on certain foods, wine, rum, tea, spices and other goods such as candles and soap. Similar information is repeated in an alternate source.
• Food expenses reported at Valley Forge PA, 1777-1778
  Shows prices paid at George Washington's headquarters for beer, cider, rum, tea, geese, turkeys, fowls, rabbits, pigeons, chickens, duck, ham, lamb, roasting pigs, venison, fish, eggs, apples, butter, strawberries, potatoes, sugar, sprouts, parsnips, cabbage, carrots, and more. Source: Washington's headquarters, Valley Forge National Historical Park, 1989. Appendix VIII (pp. 223-242) shows full expense accounts.

• Food prices in Rhode Island, 1750-1781
  Price of foods including veal, oats, barley, apples, turnips, beans, tea, spices, chocolate in 1768 and 1771, rum in 1766 and more, transcribed from an original account book of Thomas Hazard of South Kingston, Washington County RI. The preface of this book tells the context and provides some explanation of the various currency used over time -- old tenor, new tenor, lawful money, etc.
• Price ceilings established in Rhode Island (1777) due to wartime inflation:
  Wheat, corn, rye, pork, beef, salt, rum, sugar, molasses, cheese, butter, peas, beans, potatoes, salted pork, coffee, oats, turkeys, fowls, potatoes, cocoa, milk.  Source: Rhode Island law.

• Bread price in New York, 1770s
  The price of bread was capped from 1777-1783 in response to inflation. Source: Colonial records of the New York Chamber of Commerce, pp. 349-350.

• Prices of butter, beef and pork in the American colonies, 1633-1749
  Prices by the pound expressed in shillings and pence with the American currency equivalent. Source: U.S. BLS Bulletin no. 604, p.20.
• Prices of commodities used as barter, 1630-1750
  Laborers were sometimes paid in provisions rather than cash. This chart shows the value of corn, wheat, butter, beef and pork. Source: Source: U.S. BLS Bulletin no. 604, p.19.
• Flour price per hundredweight, 1722-1778
  Source: History of manufactures in the U.S., 1607-1860, p. 594.