Actually it would be lower. In the 1850s, people had the skills, knowledge and infrastructure to live in a functioning 1850s level society.
Not too many 21st century Americans and Europeans would have the slightest idea how to get food and shelter if there was a sudden permanent loss of access to electricity. Moreover, the breakdown of society would mean that there would be no recognized private property, other than what people could take and protect by their own use of force.
To say nothing of the loss of respect for one another and work ethic that characterized what was then a largely Judeo-Christian society.
I know we have an abundance of hearty, self-sufficient, gun-toting, food growing Freepers (alas, I am not one), but everyone else would essentially be screwed.
“In the 1850s, people had the skills, knowledge and infrastructure to live in a functioning 1850s level society.”
It’s amazing how many people today don’t even know how to use a manual can opener.