For this reason you must by no means take monetary recommendation from folks on the web. You might be leaving out a lot necessary data by solely specializing in inflation. Lee was making $8 per week, not an hour. Adjusted for inflation, that’s nonetheless solely $680 a month, or $8,160 a 12 months. In 1939, making $8,000+ a 12 months means Lee would have been taxed 10% of his earnings, leaving him with solely $7,344. Evaluate that to the common McDonald’s worker, who makes ~$15,000 a 12 months, or ~$13,000 after taxes in the event you stay in NYC.