The 3500$ figure is worse than useless. I need to know how many hours toiling in the field, or how many loaves of bread, or how much gold I’d need to buy that shirt. Shirts had to be for sale at that time, how much were they going for?
Even then it’s a bad comparison because most people back then weren’t selling their labor, they were creating wealth that they themselves consumed. You can’t put a meaningful price tag on self sufficiency.
