The average salary during the Great Depression was approximately $1,045, which, when adjusted for inflation in 2023, would amount to about $24,526.07. This starkly contradicts the inflated numbers presented in recent social media shares, which mislead viewers into believing that people during the Great Depression had higher earnings than the average salary today.

The federal minimum wage of $0.25 in 1938 would only equate to $5.43 in today’s dollars.

Economist Murray Rothbard: “…average weekly earnings fell by over 40 per cent during the depression, and real weekly earnings fell by over 30 per cent.”