A GS-11 in the government wasn’t even making that.
Exactly.
I started my career as a GS-7/9/11 in January 1981 with a BS in Engineering.
I still remember my starting salary was $19,747. All my classmates graduating at the same time said they’d be really excited if their starting salary began with a ‘2’. Mine was pretty close.
No way in hell a bank teller was making $30k in 1980. Unless she was boinking the bank president; does she know who her father is?