20K USD/year [back then]
For what it's worth, $20K/2088 work hours per year = about $9.50 per hour... only nominally more than
minimum wage in MA in 2003 ($6.75)That's still more than the current minimum wage in Massachusetts (currently $8, but about to raise to $11 if legislation passes). Who knows what raises he would have gotten as an office drone (probably not much unless he quit and left or somehow got another job (oh wait he did(sort of))).
I think the economics in QCverse are approximately similar to reality...
Station tried to "pay off" Lt. Potter for $4.6M, which is about what you'd need (I think) at her age to life comfortably without needing to work if invested properly. That scans pretty well with what you'd need now in realityverse to do the same.
I suspect that Jeph will have Something To Say about AI/Human discrimination/pay disparity/etc and whatnot soon in the comic, but it's hard to take the current QCverse with its new concepts and completely reconcile it with 2003QCverse. (hedge)