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Prices and Wages by Decade: Up through 1779

Links to government documents and primary sources listing retail prices for products and services, as well as wages for common occupations.

Wages in the American colonies up to 1779

WAGES in MASSACHUSETTS

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

1600s

  • Wages in Massachusetts, 1670s
    • Source: U.S. BLS Bulletin no. 499, pp. 473-474.
    • Source: Historical statistics of the U.S.: colonial times to 1970, p. 1196.
  • Wages by occupation - Massachusetts, 1633 
    Source: Historical statistics of the U.S: colonial times to 1970, p.1196.  Further detail on wages in Winthrop's Journal (source).
  • Potential annual income for unskilled laborer in Massachusetts, 1643
    Winthrop's Journal cites a servant who was able to save £25 cash in one year's time.
    Farm labor in Massachusetts, 1672
  • Wages for cutting, mowing, reaping, etc. by the acre. Source: USDA Wages of Farm Labor, published 1892, Bulletin #99, p. 8.

WAGES in CONNECTICUT

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

WAGES in MARYLAND

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

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.

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 in SOUTH CAROLINA

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

WAGES in VIRGINIA

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

  • Building-trades wages
  • 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

Wages in England up through 1779

Prices in the American colonies up through 1779

PRICES for HOUSING and LAND, up through 1779

PRICE of BUILDING MATERIALS

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 SERVICES, up through 1779

PRICES for HEALTH CARE, up through 1779

PRICES for TOBACCO, up through 1779

Food prices in the American colonies up to 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.
  • 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.

Foreign prices by country - 1700s

ENGLAND

CANADA

Price and wage analysis, 1700s

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Marie Concannon, Government Information Librarian
Government Documents Department, Ellis Library
University of Missouri, Columbia
Email: concannonm@missouri.edu
Phone (573) 882-0748