Appreciative of the breakdown, but I think there might be some issues with your methodology.
For one, far fewer households today are single salary. Say what you will about whether this is a good or bad thing, but I think it's probably more appropriate to base the numbers on an "automotive household income" if that's such a thing.
Also, your salary resource is a little weak. It has a huge range ($34k-$144k average). I speculate this isn't relegated to just using automotive manufacturers but also includes their suppliers. Anecdotal experience shows me that the lowest paid Tier 2 union employees on a line make that much if you include overtime. Tier 1 workers make much more (close to double, in my experience). Then you take the skilled trades (e.g., electricians and machinists) where its more common than not to make six figures, all things considered. This is all before we're getting to the degreed engineers. Payscale.com shows average Ford engineer salary nearing $90k. Engineers on the line generally make more because of the work conditions and overtime (it wouldn't be uncommon for a process engineer to make double that). I don't know what the actual numbers are, but I wouldn't balk at data that's easily double the numbers you covered. It could easily be on-par or even below the Model-T numbers when it comes to monthly household income.
For one, far fewer households today are single salary. Say what you will about whether this is a good or bad thing, but I think it's probably more appropriate to base the numbers on an "automotive household income" if that's such a thing.
Also, your salary resource is a little weak. It has a huge range ($34k-$144k average). I speculate this isn't relegated to just using automotive manufacturers but also includes their suppliers. Anecdotal experience shows me that the lowest paid Tier 2 union employees on a line make that much if you include overtime. Tier 1 workers make much more (close to double, in my experience). Then you take the skilled trades (e.g., electricians and machinists) where its more common than not to make six figures, all things considered. This is all before we're getting to the degreed engineers. Payscale.com shows average Ford engineer salary nearing $90k. Engineers on the line generally make more because of the work conditions and overtime (it wouldn't be uncommon for a process engineer to make double that). I don't know what the actual numbers are, but I wouldn't balk at data that's easily double the numbers you covered. It could easily be on-par or even below the Model-T numbers when it comes to monthly household income.