well, medicine was a poorly paid profession up through the 30’s. Once doctors had some significant tools (medicine) to work with, their efforts became more successful and they moved up in the world.
Same thing back in my hometown in upstate New York, where many public school teachers with a couple of decades of tenure have six digit salaries - this in a region with one of the lowest costs of living in North America. When I was in college, I remember delivering pizzas to a few of my former teachers, who all lived in very large houses in high-end subdivisions; their neighbors were doctors, lawyers and so on.
Urban planning is an odd one. In California, even entry-level planners make close to six digit incomes. In much of the country, planners with years of experience make less than gas station assistant managers. Used to be where planning was a solid just-above-middle-class professon, but today it’s all-or-nothing, depending on where you end up.
To quote the late, great Peter Boyle: “Holy Crap!!” I don’t know anyone around here who makes that kind of money in public education. I have sixteen years’ experience, excellent evaluations, high-achieving students, and I make just over $50K. My position gives me more money than other teachers in my school with similar experience. I’m not complaining, but “Holy Crap.”
Having said that, the website Snarky_Kong links to clearly pursues and agenda that I strongly disagree with. It misrepresents and misunderstands the true nature of the responsibilities of classroom teachers and education professionals. Full disclosure: I am an active and involved member of the National Education Association, which is probably the evil teacher’s union the website mentions. In Texas, unions are not nearly as powerful as in many states, including Illinois. We are a “right to work” state – no collective bargaining.
“Location: Central Texas, USA”. 
In my area, the very newest teachers in their 1st year with nothing but the basic credential make $50K. You’d make at least 75 or so, more if you had a Masters. And, we can’t get anough teachers out here. That being said, a nice house in a decent school district is $600K +.
Joe lunchbucket PC tech $10-$12/hr. The money is not in home user repair, its in business implementation. There is still big money to be made in small business. I have a job right now that has run up just shy of $1K in bills over the last week, mostly in labor, setting up new machines, networking them, setting up point of sale systems, teaching them how to use them, building a simple website, setting up email and internet. Sure many people can do this stuff alone, but when you need to be up and running with deadlines looming, $80/hr+ help starts looking cheap. On about 12 hours of labor and $150 in parts they have gone from 2 unformatted used machines to a setup that they can use to run their business on.
The scary thing is, I have been in and out of this jobsite alot. I still have done almost a dozen other onsite jobs in the last 2 weeks.
You live in the wrong state apparently. Most of the people on that list will make more from their pension than you do right now.
Yeah, with teaching it depends completely and utterly on where you live (of course considering cost of living as well) and then people from some states always think teachers make a ton of money because their teachers do. I’m a librarian who started out the same year as a teacher friend of mine. We both have masters’ degrees. We started out at pretty much the same salary - me 32K, him 34K. I get annual raises, though, (assuming county council gives them to us) while his raises are guaranteed but much more infrequent. It’s a far cry from 80K. A FAR cry.
M.D.s still have veterinarians beat. 
Football players as recent as the 1970s had jobs during the off season. I’ve heard Steeler great Andy Russell talk about this.
That also varies widely by state and even within each state. In small towns in cetain states they are not making much at all. Others are doing quite well.
You know what this thread needs? Cites.
The granddaddy of all sources on salaries is the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Here’s what they list as median salaries for some professions.
Accounting $50,770
Chemical Engineer $53,813
Computer Scientist $85,190
Dentist $129,920
Electrical Engineer $51,888
Industrial Engineer $49,567
Landscape Architect $53,120
Lawyer $94,930
Optometrist $88,410
Physician – Family Practice $137,119
Registered Nurse $52,330
Teacher – Special Education $43,570
Veterinarian $66,590
Sure it’s possible to find a nurse who makes $100,000 or a chemical engineer who makes $30,000, but those are at the extreme ends.
Those stats are so broad that they become meaningless. And your final sentence is completely wrong. It is not like there are a couple of people on the upper and lower ends of the scale. There are entire states. Of the professions that I have knowledge of on your list the average salary in New Jersey would be almost double. But are they talking only about established workers or do entry level get added in with the oldtimers? Meaningless without context. According to that list I make more money than just about every nonmedical profession in the country. And I know that those that live around me make as much or more than me.
The singular of data is not anecdote, and since you find my cite “meaningless” I look forward to seeing yours.
The singular of data is bullshit. Having one data point such as the median income across a continent is a condition of knowledge so blind to the truth that it is almost worthless. Not completely. But neither is an anecdote.
Anyway, to be more specific: It’d be interesting if you found the same exact statistic by the DoL charted through time. Then no matter how bullshit the number itself is, the trend would show up. But… for the discussion of how much people get paid today… it really illuminates far less than the anecdotes. Not that, you know, 10% more information won’t hurt this discussion.
You’ve pretty much just proven yourself wrong by resorting to a complete non sequitur, haven’t you?
I’m sorry, but the idea that teaching is an easy job is just plainly stupid. I say that as a person who doesn’t have a professional stake in the matter.
The vacation’s great. no doubt. The job itself is quite stressful, and the idea that it’s some training-free thing anyone could walk off the street and do is a Hollywood fantasy.
Reread the OP. What poorly professions today used to be highly paid? (or vice versa) The question is so broad that only a broad answer applies.
You think the median income across a continent is “almost worthless” in this discussion, what’s a better measure? Last time I checked, the salary range for my job title, in my market, was $28,000-$105,000 annually. Is that more informative than the median?
I look forward to seeing your cite.
Not in Oregon
Well, I’m above the median, but that median sucks donkey exudative hemorrhoids. 
It’s not easy, but it’s no longer under-paid either (at least not compared to when my Dad was a teacher for the LAUSD back in the 50’s). I think, at least around here, teachers are finally getting paid (if you count the time-off) about what they are worth.
For the purpose of this thread, I think kunilou’s cite is fine.
Yes, true to determine if any one Nurse/Teacher/etc in any one area is over or under paid it’s not so great, but since we are comparing the broad range of jobs now vs the broad range then, it’s a good starting point.
Like, I imagine, many people, I’ve never before thought about the fact that a donkey can get hemorrhoids just like anybody else. In a way, the realization makes me very sad.
New Jersey either.