Average Daily and Weekly Wages in Selected Domestic Service Occupations, 1889-1890[26]

Table IX
OccupationWeekly Wages for
the United States
Weekly Wages for
Boston, Mass.
Women
Cooks$3.72$4.45
Cooks and laundresses3.39
Chambermaids3.393.86
Waitresses3.193.7
Second girls3.163.7
Chambermaids and waitresses3.10
Parlor maids3
General servants2.913
Men
Coachmen$7.84
Coachmen and gardeners6.54
Butlers6.11
Cooks6.08
WomenDaily Wages
Laundresses.82
Seamstresses1.01
Men
Gardeners1.33
Chore-men.87

Table X below gives average wages for selected domestic service occupations in the United States for a decade later than the figures of Table IX. The slight variation in the figures of Table X from those of Table IX may be due to probable error incident to the collection of the data or to some other factor. The indications of these two tables, however, with ten years intervening between the compilation of the data, are that wages probably had changed very little, if any.

Average Weekly Wages for Selected Domestic Service Occupations in the United States, 1900[27]

Table X
OccupationAverage Weekly Wage
Women
General houseworkers$3.28
Cooks3.95
Waitresses3.43
Other specialists3.54
Men
For all domestic service occupations6.03
Women
For all domestic service occupations3.51

In comparison with the two preceding tables, Table XI below gives wages for domestic service in Philadelphia for about the same period. The weekly wages range higher than for the country as a whole. The lower wages in the southern border and middle sections of the United States have reduced the average for the country below that for this eastern city in which also special conditions may have operated to bring such wages above the general level.

Average Weekly Wages of Negro Domestic Workers of Philadelphia, 1896-1897[27]

Table XI
OccupationAverage Weekly Wage
Women
General worker$3.24
Janitress4.06
Chambermaid-laundress3.58
Cook-laundress4.00
Laundress4.04
Lady's maid3.63
Chambermaid and waitress3.17
Waitress3.31
Women
Chambermaid3.17
Child's nurse3.35
Errand girl2.00
Cook4.02
Men
General worker5.38
Valet8.00
Cook6.17
Waiter6.14
Coachman8.58
Butler8.24
Bellboy2.61

Table XII which follows is drawn from The Negro at Work in New York City, and shows the modal wage groups for specific occupations in domestic and personal service, New York City, 1906-1909. Although data for New York City are not typical of the entire country, these are the only available figures for this period, and they may indicate the trend of wages in domestic personal service in that section. In comparison with the preceding Table of Wages in Philadelphia, the increase in wages in New York City may be due to differences of conditions in the two cities rather than to any general increase or decrease in wages.