Define prosperous. Someone who is proficient in those skills in the Chicago area gets paid about $35/hr as a contractor. Contractors work about 8 months of the year - the rest of the time they are between jobs - sewing together 3 or 4 contracts of 2 months each (for those skill sets.) Plus they work overtime but can only bill 40 hrs a week. So they make about $45K per year - but have to pay benefits out of their own pockets. No 401K. No pension. If you have a family (and most older people do) then subtract $10K year for dental, health, and life insurance. So now the income is $35K per year - before taxes. For those skills.
Reality - that is not prosperous. It is not dirt - but not prosperous.