How much did you make the first year you worked?

[tvguy]

Got my annual Social Security Statement in the mail and it lists what you have earned every year.

My first working year was 1974 and I made $186. I was 16-17 that year and worked as a Department Store Security Guard.
I just remember it sure seemed like a lot of money at the time. My first big purchase was a Realistic AM/FM tuner/amplifier for $35.

 

[low-key]

The first year I had a job, was the summer before my Junior year, I worked about a month for my Uncle who owned a aluminum fire place company, I must of made about 3-4 hundred dollars that year

 

[Minnesota!]

Not sure...my first job I held more than a year, I made like 7.12/he to start then posted up and made about $10/hr. Big money for a 19 year old in the 90s

 

[tvguy]

Not sure...my first job I held more than a year, I made like 7.12/he to start then posted up and made about $10/hr. Big money for a 19 year old in the 90s

A lot better than the $2.25 I was making!

 

[jdb in AZ]

Early 1970's I made $2.10 an hour. blech. My high-school boy friend was making some $1.75 an hour and was jealous that a co-worker was making $2.00 an hour. Times change.

 

[superme80]

Not sure for the whole year, but I was at $4.25 an hr for my first job. It was a seasonal position at a theme park. Pretty sure I might have made a couple thousand. I did a lot of overtime.

 

[Dan Murphy]

$2,760, 1962, factory job.

 

[disykat]

I remember that my wage was $1.53 an hour when I started working at 15. I specifically remember that because I also babysat and the going wage for that was just going up to $.75 an hour at the time (though some people still paid $.50 an hour, which had been the norm when I started babysitting at 13.)

Yes, teenagers happily babysat for 1/3 to 1/2 of minimum wage in the mid to late 70's.

 

[disney junky]

First real job was teaching. 1979. Binghamton NY. $9600 annual salary. Taught summer school to supplement.

 

[mnrose]

My first "real" job out of law school I made 36,000 a year...1984. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven on the $$$ train. LOL

My very first hourly paid job was corn detasseling. I made $1.25 an hour.

 

[RedAngie]

First W-2 job at age 16 was a counter girl at a retail bakery in late spring 1977. $2.50 per hour. I made several hundred dollars the rest of 1977.

I also worked at my father's business for cash under the table starting about age 10. Sweeping floors, cleaning the bathroom, stocking merchandise, etc.

 

[kdonnel]

My first real job out of college started in January 1994. My salary was $21500 but that year I made $46000 due to overtime.

 

[lovesmurfs]

1985 - $701. First "real" job was Woolworth's lunch counter the summer before I went to college. Then worked at a city office for my winter break that year, typing up dog licenses on 3 part forms. Ugh.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

The first full time job I had was in 1980 and I made $1.90 an hour. The last full time job I had was in 2011 and I only made $9.00 an hour. I quit to babysit my grandkids for free.

 

[Magical2017]

Not much. My first non-babysitting job was the summer before I started college. I worked retail and minimum wage was $3.35/hr. I worked part-time.

 

[DisneyHardin]

My first part-time/hourly job was in college working as a Student Worker in the History Dept for $5.25/hour in 1996.

When I graduated college in 2000 and got my first teaching job, I was making $25,000/yr.

 

[tvguy]

The first full time job I had was in 1980 and I made $1.90 an hour. The last full time job I had was in 2011 and I only made $9.00 an hour. I quit to babysit my grandkids for free.

Federal minimum wage in 1980 was $3.10 an hour. Was this a tipped position? Or a cash under the table job?

 

[stm61]

Federal minimum wage in 1980 was $3.10 an hour. Was this a tipped position? Or a cash under the table job?

I worked for Six Flags in 1979 & 1980. Minimum wage in NJ was $1.65.

 

[Sparkly]

First job, I worked retail over Christmas and earned £7.60 per hour. Not great considering it's surprisingly hard work.

 

[Wendy31]

My first job was a paid work study position during college, & I made minimum wage - whatever it was back in 1991.

My first real job was a "personal clerk" in the human resources department of a community college in 1993. I made $6.54/hour.