Daily Wage Rates
on the Erie Canal, 1845 to 1870
(in unadjusted dollars)
| YEAR | Common Labor | Carpenters |
|---|
| 1845 | 0.75 | 1.00 |
| 1846 | 0.75 | 1.00 |
| 1847 | 0.88 | 1.25 |
| 1848 | 0.88 | 1.38 |
| 1849 | 0.88 | 1.63 |
| 1850 | 0.88 | 1.50 |
| 1851 | 1.00 | 1.50 |
| 1852 | 1.00 | 1.50 |
| 1853 | 1.00 | 1.50 |
| 1854 | 1.00 | 1.75 |
| 1855 | 1.00 | 1.75 |
| 1856 | 1.00 | 1.75 |
| 1857 | 1.00 | 1.75 |
| 1858 | 1.00 | 1.50 |
| 1859 | 1.00 | 1.50 |
| 1860 | 1.00 | 1.75 |
| 1861 | 1.00 | 1.63 |
| 1862 | 1.00 | 1.50 |
| 1863 | 1.25 | 2.00 |
| 1864 | 1.50 | 2.25 |
| 1865 | 1.50 | 2.50 |
| 1866 | 1.50 | 3.00 |
| 1867 | ---- | 2.75 |
| 1868 | ---- | 2.50 |
| 1869 | 1.75 | 3.00 |
| 1870 | 1.75 | 2.50 |
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census,
Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times
to 1970, (White Plains, New York: Kraus International
Publications, 1970), Series D 718-721.