How much was $30,000 back then?
$242,240 in 2005 according to the http://minneapolisfed.org/Research/data/us/calc/index.cfm
On a salary of $15,000, or $121k today. God damm the FED.
I think we need to consider the difference between gross and net income. Jim Blandings paid far less in Social Security taxes than we do today. Also, state income taxes were lower (and probably didn't even exist in many states that levy them today).
Local taxes also have to be factored in, and there are property and sales taxes as well. I live in California, where the sales tax ranges from 8.25% up to 10.25%, depending on local sales taxes.
State and local governments have gotten very greedy since 1948 and take a larger share of our income.
What this means is that the spending power of the dollar was far greater in 1948. So, formulas don't take those factors into account
"It is something, in this film, to see all of the contractor workers be Euro-Americans, where today of course you'd hear mostly Spanish on such a job site."
True, but where have all the Euro-Americans gone, I wonder?
Jim Blandings paid far less in Social Security taxes than we do today. Also, state income taxes were lower (and probably didn't even exist in many states that levy them today).
Yes, the Social Security tax rate was 2% on the first $3,000 in 1948. Today, Social Security and Medicare taxes are 15.3% on the first $117,000.
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/content/pdf/ssrate_historical. pdf
But Federal income tax rates were much higher. At $15,000/year, Blandings was in the 47% income tax bracket in 1948. At an equivalent income of $143,000 in 2013, he would be in the 28% bracket.
http://taxfoundation.org/article/us-federal-individual-income-tax-rate s-history-1913-2013-nominal-and-inflation-adjusted-brackets
I'm nerdy, but not quite nerdy enough to do the math. I suspect his total Federal tax burden would be slightly lower today. Of course, housing costs are vastly higher, far out of proportion to the general level of inflation; but, then again, advertising executives generally make more than $143,000 these days, too. share
Also, consider that he is an ad executive at a major New York firm. I can only guess, but I bet that 150,000 is low ball for his salary. If he is a junior exec, that might be about right, but if he is a VP or senior VP, then I bet he is earning more than $200k. Maybe the first $150k is in cash, and the rest is in stock options.