I recently found an online directory of Kalispell City ordinances and thought it would be intriguing to see what some of the ordinances of the past were. The last post covered a 1929 ordinance about keeping a disorderly house (which didn't have anything to do with messiness). This one is from 1930 and it is a bit more logical than the last ordinance I shared.
Ordinance #424, effective May 5, 1930, set the compensation for various job titles in Kalispell. Ordinance #425 also added a salary for an engineer. Specifically, here is what various city careers paid in 1930.
- Mayor $300
- Alderman $120
- City Attorney $900
- City Engineer $200
- City Treasurer $1200
- City Clerk $1500
- Purchasing Agent $300
- Police Judge $850
- Chief of Police $1800
- Patrolman $1500
- Health Officer $600
- Librarian $1500
- Assistant Librarian $1080
Imagine living on $120 per year?
So I wondered how this might relate to today's salaries. I did some online research and from various sources found some of the current salary ranges. I also calculated the percent increase in the last almost 100 years. Here is the result:
Note: The average is a salary range average, not actual pay.
So what do you notice from the above?
The chart suggests that the City Attorney has become more important (in terms of the increase in salary growth) than the Chief of Police. And if you look at the average salary for those two positions the same is true. In fact, the City Attorney's average pay range is higher than any other profession. It used to be one of the lowest.
In terms of percent wage increases, the City Engineer has seen a whopping increase, more than any other job title. Perhaps Kalispell undervalued the engineer way back when. Or perhaps having an engineer as the town continued to grow became more important.
Also interesting is that a City Engineer makes more than a Police Officer. Could that just be a budget constraint and not necessarily a value judgement?
You might also notice the Mayor and Alderman/Councilman job salaries have not increased comparable to all the other job titles. That is because in the city of Kalispell, the Mayor and Councilman positions are basically volunteer/part-time positions and they make just a small salary and stipend for their work.
Another thought came to me, and that is, I wonder how the cost of living in 1930 compared to the cost of living in 2024? In other words, would a City Clerk making $1,500 in 1930 be better off or worse off than a City Clerk making $97,500 in 2024? I was able to find a few items to compare.
An annual home rental in 1930 would run around $20 per month, or $240 per year. That would have been 16% of their annual salary.
In 2024, the average annual home rental (per Rentometer) is $2,550 per month or $30,000 a year which is 31% of our hypothetical Clerk's annual salary. That's nearly double the percent they would have paid in 1930.
If that clerk then left work in 1930 and went to the store to pick up a pound of coffee, five pounds of flour, a pound of bacon, and a gallon of milk, that would have cost $1.19 or 0.08% of their annual salary.
In 2024, the same items would cost approximately $25 or 0.03% of their annual salary; again, more than double.
I think it's safe to say a Kalispell person living in 1930 kept more of their salary than a Kalispell person living in 2024.
Just some food for thought.
And there you have it, another blast from the past of Kalispell Montana. I wonder what I'll find the next time I peek into the Kalispell Ordinances?
If you have any real estate related needs, feel free to give me a call on 406-270-3667 or email me at kat@thehousekat.com and I would be happy to find the right person to assist you!
Originally published at thehousekat.com.
Photos are from AI and Kat's imagination.
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