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Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

Then and Now: 1860 and 2010

Posted By on January 30, 2012

 

To get a better understanding of how different the world and the United States was in 1860, we can compare some basic statistics from the beginning of the Civil War and the present day.

1860 2010
World’s Population 1.27 billion 6.989 billion
U.S.  Population 31,443,321 308,745,538
Pennsylvania Population 2,906,215 12,702,379
Dauphin County PA population 46,756 268,100
Harrisburg, PA population 13,405 49,529
Gratz, PA population 765

Largest U.S. Cities

1860

2010

  1. 1.   New York City, NY

813, 669

1. New York City, NY8,175,133
  1. 2.   Philadelphia, PA

565,529

2. Los Angeles, CA3,792,621
  1. 3.   Brooklyn, NY

266, 661

3. Chicago, IL2,695, 598
  1. 4.   Baltimore, MD

212,418

4. Houston, TX2,099,451
  1. 5.   Boston, MA

177, 840

5. Philadelphia, PA 1,526, 006
  1. 6.   New Orleans, LA

168, 675

6. Phoenix, AZ1,445,632
  1. 7.   Cincinnati, OH

161, 044

7. San Antonio, TX1,327, 402
  1. 8.   St. Louis, MO

160, 773

8. San Diego, CA1,307, 402
  1. 9.   Chicago, IL

112,172

9. Dallas, TX1,197, 816
  1. 10.       Buffalo, NY

81, 129

10. San Jose, CA945, 942

Top Occupations

1860

2010

Farm Owners and Tenants (10%) Retail Salesperson (6%)
Farm Laborers  (3.2%) Cashiers (2.64%)
General Laborers (3.0%) Office Clerks (2.19%)
Shoe Maker Food Service/ Preparation (2.12%)
Hired Servant Nurses (2.09%)
Waiters/Waitresses (1.76%)

Cost of Living

 

 

1860

2010

wheat flour $7.14/barrel (200 lbs) $52.00/ 200 lbs.
rice 7 cents/lb. 85 cents/lb.
sugar 8 cents/lb. $1.25/lb.
roast beef 11 cents/lb. $4.50/lb.
cheese, cheddar 13 cents/lb. $5.24/lb.
eggs 20 cents/dozen $1.95/dozen
firewood $6.49/cord $155/cord
rent, 2 bedroom apt $4.45/month $575 month (median, Harrisburg metro)

Comments

2 Responses to “Then and Now: 1860 and 2010”

  1. Alana says:

    Great information here. Very helpful!

  2. Sasquatch says:

    There was some helpful information, but a helpful bit of information would be to include the average salary for workers during the war, and how they adapted to post-war expenses.