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WAGES – GENERAL SOURCES (all occupations and worker types)
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Minimum wage (federal), 1938-2021Source: US Dept of Labor. Get downloadable data from FRED.
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Average wage per employee, 1995-2005Chart shows the nationwide average annual and weekly wages per employee, across all industries, for each year from 1995-2005. This data is also available as a downloadable Excel file from the 2012 Statistical abstract of the United States (source)
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Employment and Wages – Annual averages, 1980s-2000sThis series is a rich source for average wage data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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College graduates – Earnings, 1993This article reports on the earnings of college graduates in 1993, including tables of median annual earnings by age group, sex and degree level, by major field of study, and by occupation (source).
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Full-time professionals – Median salaries by sex, 1993Shows hours and earnings data for those with a Ph.D, MBA, M.D. or law degree. (source).
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Urban versus rural earnings, 1994This article compares the wages of workers in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas; protective services and custodial/material movers are specifically discussed (source).
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Union versus non-union earnings, 1997
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Average Retail Food and Energy Prices, 1980-2018Prices for meats, fruits, vegetables, bread, eggs, milk and more foods, as well as gasoline, electricity, natural gas and other residential energy. To view data back to 1980, click the green “Historical Data” icon in the rows, then use drop-down boxes near the top of the page to set start and end years.
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Food costs–from farm to retail in 1992Shows average retail prices in dollars and cents along with the percentage of increase or decrease from previous years.
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Food costs – 1997, 1998, 1999Includes average cost of peanut butter, cold cereal, milk, juice, etc. Scroll down to Appendix A on page 35 of the pdf.
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Mail order catalogs for Christmas, 1990sThis link leads to WishbookWeb.com, a site that displays complete, historic mail order catalogs in color and offers keyword searching in the full text. Find retail prices for clothing, jewelry, toys, household decor and furnishings, gift items and other merchandise selected for inclusion in Christmas catalogs. Retailers include Sears and JCPenney.
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Mail order catalogs for Christmas, 1990sThis link leads to WishbookWeb.com, a site that displays complete, historic mail order catalogs in color and offers keyword searching in the full text. Find retail prices for clothing, jewelry, toys, household decor and furnishings, gift items and other merchandise selected for inclusion in Christmas catalogs. Retailers include Sears and JCPenney.
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Median home value and monthly rent data, 1990Shows percent distribution of monthly rent in 1990. Source: Census Bureau.
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Median gross rent by state, 1940-2000Gross rent is defined as “the monthly amount of rent plus the estimated average monthly cost of utilities (electricity, gas, water and sewer) and fuels (oil, coal, kerosene, wood, etc.). This source shows data by state and for the U.S. as a whole. Source: U.S. Census of Housing, choose unadjusted figures.
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Median home values by state, 1940-2000Median home values for states and for the U.S. as a whole. Source: U.S. Census of Housing, choose unadjusted figures.
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New home sale prices by characteristic – 1990sThe U.S. Census Bureau’s Characteristics of New Housing series tells average and median sale prices of new homes by number of bedrooms, square feet, and also by region of the country. First choose a report by date, then use the “Search in this Text” feature for the phrase “SALES PRICE,” or just “price.” See for example this table that shows sales price of house by square feet and location for 1995-1999.
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Farm real estate values in the 48 contiguous states, 1912-2019Figures include both land and buildings. Table shows price per acre for each year. Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.
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Average Energy Prices, 1980-2018Scroll to the bottom of this table to see prices for gasoline, electricity, natural gas and other residential energy. To view data back to 1980, click the green “Historical Data” icon in the rows, then use drop-down boxes near the top of the page to set start and end years.
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Consumer prices for prescription drugs, 1992Tables show consumer prices for some of the most commonly prescribed drugs, comparing prices in U.S. pharmacies to those in Canada and Mexico. Source: Congressional hearing, pp. 47-50.
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Wholesale prescription drug prices, 1985-1991Tracks price increases for twenty-five common prescription drugs including Percocet, Valium, Premarin, Prozac, Motrin and more. Note: this shows prices paid by retail pharmacies, not the prices paid by the consumer.
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Health care and drugs – Average annual expenditure, 1996Shows the average amount paid on health care and prescription drugs for the year 1996. Source: Health, United States (2001), table 119.
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Monthly payment for Medicare users, 1994-1998Table shows the average monthly cost of Medicare insurances users by sex and age between 1994 and 1998.
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Nursing homes – Average monthly charge per resident, 1995-1999Data broken out by residents’ sex, age and insurance coverage level; and by facility size and type. Source: Health, United States (2001), table 123.
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Telephone service, residential – Average monthly rates, 1983-1991Average rates for unlimited local calling, taxes and average connection charges. Source: U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
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Cost to mail a letter or postcard, 1863-presentSource: the Historian of the U.S. Postal Service.
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New car prices in the 1990s according to NADAManufacturer suggested retail prices (MSRP) for 1990s cars and trucks are available through the NADA website. Choose a make, year, and body type. Select a car then enter any zip code. Click “Get Base Values” to see the original suggested retail price.
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Gasoline prices, 1983-2019Shows gasoline retail price data by state, region, or for the whole U.S. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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Price of gasoline, 1949-2011“Nominal price” was the price paid at the time of the transaction. This table shows the nominal price of leaded regular gasoline from 1949-1990. and unleaded regular gas from 1976-2011. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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New car loans – Average amount financed, 1971-2011Indicates how much people were paying on average for their new cars. Downloadable data from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
COST of a COLLEGE EDUCATION, 1990s
In 1990, 40.6% of people aged 18-21 were enrolled in college (U.S. Census) and 21.3% of people aged 25 years or older have completed 4 years (U.S. Census, Table A-2).
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Undergraduate college tuition, fees, room and board, 1963-2019Shows average undergraduate tuition/fees and room/board rates charged for full-time students, with breakouts for public, private, non-profit and for-profit institutions.
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Graduate school tuition and fees by state, 1989-2019Shows average tuition and fees by state, and by public or private institution. Also expresses two decades of tuition data in 2018-2019 dollars. Source: U.S. Dept of Education, Digest of Education Statistics.
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Disney World theme park ticket prices, 1990-1999Detailed admission prices for Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, MGM Studios theme park, etc. Source: AllEars.net
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Price of gold per ounce, 1968-1998Annual data for 1968-1998 plus narrative information on historical gold prices back to the 1700s. Tells the eras in which “a man could buy a fine suit of clothes” with one ounce of gold. Source: U.S. Geological Survey publication, Metal prices in the United States through 1998
EARNINGS by BOTH RACE AND SEX, 1990s
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Handbook on women workers: trends and issuesThis U.S. Department of Labor publication discusses earnings by race:
- Black/African American women earnings, occupations in 1991.
- Hispanic American women earnings and occupations in 1991.
- Asian American women earnings, occupations in 1990.
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Hispanic men and women – Weekly earnings, 1992This article investigates the diversity of Hispanic workers in the U.S. labor force; tables 5 and 6 on pages 11 and 12 show median weekly earnings in 1992 by occupation, sex, and origin (source).
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Weekly earnings by age, race and sex – 1998Table 2 of this article on women’s earnings shows median weekly earnings by age, race, and sex; scroll forward to table 3 for women’s earnings by occupation (source).
EARNINGS by SEX, 1990s
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Women’s and men’s annual earnings, 1951-1991Covers year-round, full time workers only. “Current dollars” are unadjusted figures. Source: 1993 Handbook on women workers.
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Self-employed women – Earnings, 1990This table shows the median earnings (annual, weekly, and hourly) for self-employed versus wage-and-salary women and men in 1990 and 1975 (source).
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Earnings of full time workers by occupation, 1997This table, which continues through page 16, shows usual weekly and hourly earnings of full time employees by sex, hours worked, and occupation in 1997 (source: BLS Monthly Labor Review).