Contra Dance Pay and Inflation

by 

4th Mar 2025



3 min read



| Year | Mean | Count |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2014 | $600 | 2 |
| 2015 | $732 | 5 |
| 2016 | $804 | 5 |
| 2017 | $879 | 5 |
| 2018 | $798 | 3 |
| 2019 | $833 | 3 |
| 2022 | $831 | 2 |
| 2023 | $789 | 5 |
| 2024 | $893 | 3 |

I wouldn't put too much weight on the low numbers for 2014 and 2015: initially the  weren't too sure what the going rates were and probably ended up a bit on the low side.

What about dances that aren't special events? My record keeping for evening dances isn't quite good enough to make these numbers easy to pull, but I do have good data for :



| Date | Mean | Count |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | $165 | 7 |
|  | $155 | 7 |
|  | $189 | 11 |
|  | $134 | 6 |
|  | $192 | 6 |
|  | $115 | 7 |
|  | $226 | 4 |

One thing to keep in mind is that tour payments depend on where in the country you're touring, and are correlated. For example the  was through a lower cost of living area (Rochester, Pittsburgh, Bloomington, St Louis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis) while the  was the opposite (Baltimore, DC, Bethlehem, NYC). But here as well I don't see payment failing to keep up with inflation.

One more place I can look for data is what  has been paying. The  is a guarantee (the minimum performers are paid, regardless of what attendees do) and then a potential bonus (originally a share of profits, switching to an  in 2023). Here's what I see, but keep in mind that these averages exclude some dances where there's missing data:



| Date | Mean actual pay, with bonuses | Guaranteed minimum pay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2009 | $115 |  |
| 2010 | $152 | $109 |
| 2011 | $170 | $106 |
| 2012 | $140 | $104 |
| 2013 | $144 | $102 |
| 2014 | $140 | $100 |
| 2015 | $152 | $100 |
| 2016 | $145 | $99 |
| 2017 | $162 | $97 |
| 2018 | $145 | $126 |
| 2019 | $149 | $124 |
| 2022 | $161 | $107 |
| 2023 | $205 | $130 |
| 2024 | $244 | $152 |

Note again that all the dollar amounts in this post are (inflation-adjusted) January 2025 dollars.

This data isn't ideal, though, because it's telling the story of a dance that has been becoming . While I do think there's a component of higher pay leading to being able to attract better performers, leading to higher attendance, leading to higher pay, etc, the pay increases have mostly been responsive: realizing that things are going well and we're able to pay musicians more. 

I think what would be most illuminating here would be for performers to share their numbers: how have you seen things change over time?

 I was curious how much of the increased attendance has been switching to , but most of the increase predates that booking change.

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