Stumbled on an old stat from the 80s that blew my mind

Was reading through an old Cranes Today magazine from 1987 I found in a break room box. Turns out back then the average crane operator in Texas made around $14 an hour, which adjusted for inflation is about $38 today. I figured we were getting paid better now but not by that much. Anyone else run across old pay records that made you do a double take?

3 comments

3 Comments

nathankim3d ago

Whoa, hold on. You're telling me welders in the 80s were pulling in what amounts to $40 an hour in today's money? That's wild. I've got buddies who weld for a living and they'd laugh in my face if I told them that. They're lucky to make $25-$30 an hour, and that's with all the modern safety gear and certifications. It's crazy how the value of skilled labor just dropped off a cliff (even though the work got harder, not easier). You'd think with all the construction booms and the constant demand for welders, the pay would have shot up way higher than just keeping pace with inflation. Man, that really puts things in perspective.

josephbailey5d ago

Found a similar thing cleaning out my dad's old toolbox a few years back. He had a pay stub from '84 working on a site in Houston, made $13.50 an hour as a welder. Ran the numbers and it was like $40 in today's money, which is actually more than a lot of guys I know are making now for the same work. It really makes you wonder why wages have flatlined so hard in some trades (especially with how much more expensive everything is now). Cranes and welding are dangerous, skilled work, you'd think the pay would have climbed a lot higher instead of just staying even.

phoenixk645d ago

Is it just me or did welders used to get paid way better relative to everything else?