Funny... I have many friends, and I don't know what any of them earn. Well, except one, and he's been a friend since childhood.
Talking about such things just isn't polite, and not done in polite company.
Somthing smells about your claim to know what 'dozens and dozens' of people earn.
We're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. People in the big cities talk
salaries and incomes. My academic buddies are always comparing what
their various institutions pay.
Salaries are pretty well known in big city ad businesses.
Psychotherapists talk shop, including reimbursement policies from
insurance companies, costs of handling paperwork, income, et cetera.
The salary of my now retired Notre Dame friend was published.
What smells, really smells, is your socially backwards state of South
Carolina.