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Average hourly compensation for production workers in the U.S. reached $38 per hour in 2024, according to Jeremy Horpedahl. He highlighted that in 1894, the average hourly wage was just 13 cents, which is equivalent to about $5 per hour in February 2026 dollars after adjusting for inflation using the Consumer Price Index.
Horpedahl cited data from MeasuringWorth, noting that current hourly compensation is approximately 7.5 times higher than the inflation-adjusted wage from 1894.
Horpedahl has previously noted that median income typically tracks at about 80 percent of mean income in various countries, with a close correlation between the two metrics reported in his research. He has also highlighted that countries adopting Washington Consensus reforms experienced greater economic freedom and higher income levels based on historical data. These findings provide further context for the recent compensation figures.