Seeing What Jobs Had The Highest Paying Salaries In 1950 Compared To Today Is Pretty Jarring
Money doesn't pay for what it used to, and just about everyone is feeling it right now.
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People love to remind us during tough times how much cheaper and simpler things used to be back in the day.
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The 1950s were a prime financial time in the United States, with men and women in the workforce and families with 30% more purchasing power at the end of the decade than in the beginning, according to Exploros.
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I checked out what the highest salaried jobs are in the 1950s compared to today and it's kind of absurd how different the money-making industries are today.
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In 1957, the federal minimum wage was $1. A 1959 US Department of Labor survey had "nonsupervisory and office workers" making between $1 and $3 an hour, or between $2,100 and $6,250 a year. That's from $21,239.50 to $63,212.80 today, adjusted for inflation.
The same survey found that when it came to "blue-collar workers in agriculture" 1 out of 16 earned at least $3/hr, or about $63,111 today.
"Managers, officials, and proprietors (except farm)" were making anywhere from $4,500 a year ($2.16/hr) to $9,000 ($4.50/hr), depending on where they were located in the country.
Sales workers made from $4,000 to $7,000 each year, or about $40,450 to $70,790 today.
In 70 years, somehow federal minimum wage has only made it up to $7.25, though some workers in certain cities and states make as much as $17/hr as their local minimum wage.
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According to Monster.com, the highest salaried job in the US is an anesthesiologist. They reportedly make an average of $261,730 per year (nearly $131/hr).
Various medical professionals are among the highest-paying occupations, from surgeons to psychiatrists. CEOs make the list next, bringing in an average of $193,850 annually.
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers appear next, with an annual mean salary of $174,870 per year.
Petroleum engineers make an average of $156,780 per year, followed by computer and information systems managers, making an average of $156,390 annually.
Craftsmen, foremen, and other similar gigs make an average of $5,500 annually.
Architectural and engineering managers are making an average of $152,930 per year.
Women were making about half of what their male counterparts were making. Frustratingly, it seemed their earning potential in the era capped out at around $5,500, worth about $55,600 today.
As for how women are faring, according to compensation data and software firm Payscale's 2022 State of the Gender Pay Gap Report, women are making 82 cents for every $1 men earn when comparing all women to all men.
These major shifts are a sign of the times, but they also remind us that we really have no idea what's ahead of us.
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