A study of Victorian England would not be complete without a discussion of the cost of living during the period. This information was found in an article "Life on a Guinea a Week" in The Nineteenth Century (1888). For ease of comparison, the British pounds were rounded off and amounts shown for the equivalent U.S. $ in 1888 and 2006 both annually and monthly.
Also note that since an average takes in those earning large sums as well as the smaller ones, that salaries for the lower middle class typically averaged £21-23 annually or approximately 1/25 of the £660 below.
| Cost of Living 1888 Victorian England - Family of Two | |||||
| £ | 1888 U.S. | 1888 U.S. | 2006 U.S. | 2006 U.S | |
| Annual. | Annual. | Monthly | Annual. | Monthly | |
| Average Salary for 1888 | 660 | 2,751.42 | 229.29 | 57,691.38 | 4,807.62 |
| Rent | 105 | 511.35 | 42.61 | 9,897.96 | 824.83 |
| Rates and taxes including gas | 28 | 131.36 | 10.95 | 2,639.46 | 219.96 |
| Coals (Fuel) | 12 | 58.44 | 4387 | 1,131.20 | 94.27 |
| Food: Butcher | 46 | 43.83 | 3.65 | 4,336.25 | 361.35 |
| Food: Baker | 9 | 170.45 | 14.20 | 848.40 | 70.70 |
| Food: Grocer | 38 | 185.06 | 15.42 | 3,582.12 | 298.51 |
| Food: Greengrover | 10 | 48.70 | 4.06 | 942.66 | 78.56 |
| Food: Poulterer | 10 | 48.70 | 4.06 | 942.66 | 78.56 |
| Clothing: Husband | 20 | 97.40 | 8.12 | 1,885.33 | 157.11 |
| Clothing: Wife | 35 | 170.45 | 14.20 | 3,299.32 | 274.94 |
| Laundry | 35 | 170.45 | 14.20 | 3,299.32 | 274.94 |
| Doctor/Chemist (Pharmacist) | 33 | 160.71 | 13.39 | 3,110.79 | 259.23 |
| Traveling/Tips | 43 | 209.41 | 17.45 | 4,053.45 | 337.79 |
| Local Travel (Work, shopping, etc.) | 20 | 97.40 | 8.12 | 1,885.33 | 157.11 |
| Entertainment | 36 | 175.32 | 14.61 | 3,393.59 | 282.80 |
| Liquor | 15 | 73.05 | 6.09 | 1,413.99 | 117.83 |
| House Repairs | 27 | 131.49 | 10.96 | 2,545.19 | 212.10 |
| Garden | 5 | 24.35 | 2.03 | 471.33 | 39.28 |
| Miscellaneous | 50 | 243.50 | 20.29 | 4,713.31 | 392.78 |
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1. Clapham, Economic History of Modern Britain "Free Trade and Steel 1850 - 1886".
2. Best, Mid-Victorian Britain 1851-1875.