The Gilded Age Statistics

The Gilded Age Statistics

By the Numbers

Farming's share of the Gross Domestic Product in the 1870s: 38%
Farming's share of the Gross Domestic Product in the 1890s: 24%2

Total national wealth in 1860: $16 billion
Total national wealth in 1900: $88 billion
National wealth per capita in 1860: $500
National wealth per capita in 1900: $11003

Percentage of Americans living in cities in 1860: 20
Percentage of Americans living in cities in 1900: 404

Miles of railroad track in America in 1865: 35,000
Miles of railroad track in America in 1900: 242,0005

Average work week for an industrial worker during the 1890s: 60 hours
Average rate of pay for an unskilled industrial worker during the 1890s: 10 cents per hour6

Average percentage of eligible voters who actually voted in the presidential elections between 1876 and 1896: 78.5
Margin of victory in the three presidential elections of the 1880s: < 1%1