Your $49,000 figure for median is HOUSEHOLD median income. Take a 35,000 - 40,000 regional pilot married to a 20,000 per year taco bell cashier and they are making way above median household income. As far as "degree, specialized training, away from home, blah blah blah" now are you are just talking entitlements. Do your homework people and if you don't like the water then don't jump in. Quit if you don't like it and get over yourselves. If you think $35K-$45K per year jobs are a dime a dozen in the real world than you are really in need of a reality check.
This is a point that I’ve made many times. A furloughed friend was desperate for a job as time went by. His wife had a great job, so at first life was ok, then she was downsized and now it’s panic button time. Factor in kids established with school, friends/family in your city and the cost of moving, or unable to move because your house is underwater and you may not be able to cover the mortgage and expenses with a remotely rented house and you got yourself a real pickle. Find a job quickly making more than $12 bucks an hour which after overtime, if offered anymore, is about 24K-28K a year. My boy is a college educated, well presented professional and couldn’t land a job to save his life. Everywhere he applied, there were 200 other applicants with specific experience in that job. Luckily he landed on his feet at an LCC but there were some dark lonely nights until that bolt of lighting struck.
I am not defending our pay. I’m offering a short story to illustrate the disconnect that begins to creep in as we compare ourselves to the Southwest and FedEx FO pulling that mythical obscene old school wage. And then there is pilot who references the college buddy or in-law who works in that one industry at ABC Corp and is making 6 figures that continues to perpetuate the feeling that everyone outside our biz is printing money, with weekends and holidays off and assistant coaching their kids soccer teams. It’s not happening. Do they exist, sure, but they are the exception and not the norm.