Elizabethan Incomes

The following are some examples, which may be considered fairly typical, of what different sorts of people earned for their labors (or for the labors of others, in the case of the Gentry). These are not set in stone. Like today, two people doing the same job could have considerably different incomes, but these should prove illustrative of possible income levels for various sorts of Elizabethans around 1580.

The Nobility and the Gentry

The Queen: £60,000 per annum
A Nobleman: £15,000 - £25,000 per annum
Lord Burghly: £4,000 per annum
Country Gentleman: £50 - £150 per annum
The Archbishop of Canterbury: £30,000 per annum

Town Dwellers

Successful Merchant: £100 - £25,000 per annum
Skilled Laborer: 8d - 12d per day
Carpenter: 5s per week
Unskilled Laborer: 3d - 4d per day
Coney Catcher (Con-Man): 14s in a very good day

Servants

Note: Servants incomes as they are listed here do not include tips, which could bring in more than regular wages.

Manservant: 1 Mark per quarter (£2, 12s, 4d per annum)
Groom: 2 or less per annum
Maid: 5s - 10s per quarter
Stable Boy: 10s per quarter

Country Folk

Country Parson: 20s per annum
Field Worker: 2d - 3d per day
Ploughman: 1s per week with board
Shepherd: 6d per week with board
Thatcher: 2s for 5 days work

Note: A peasant's income is very difficult to estimate. Some poor cottars who paid their rents in kind might have an income around zero, while others might make as much as £20 or more per annum. Out of this, however would come rents, which might be anywhere from almost non-existent to almost the entirety of a peasant's cash income. Since he grew most of his own food however, he would seldom starve, even if he had almost no money.

Soldiers

Captain: 6s per day
Lieutenant: 3s per day
Ensign/Ancient: 1s6d per day
Sergeant: 1s6d per day
Drummer: 1s6d per day
Common Soldier: 8d per day