Income Conversions

" four or five thousand a year:his annual income in pounds

This is the way Jane usually describes men's wealth; the income would normally come from the agricultural profits on land or from other property and investments ( In Bingley's case it turns out to be the latter). It is not easy today to translate income of the times into todays money.By some calculations, the effects of inflation means that a pound in Jane Austen's time has almost the same value as almost fourth pounds today; if so, Bingley's income would be the equivalent of 150,000 to 200,000 a year into days pounds ( or around 250-300 in U.S. Dollars...."

The Annotated Pride and Prejudice