Averages and pretty pictures are nice, but context matters. From that page you just linked:

Despite the level of wage growth reaching 6.7 percent in the summer of 2022, it has not been enough to curb the impact of even higher inflation rates. The federally mandated minimum wage in the United States has not increased since 2009, meaning that individuals working minimum wage jobs have taken a real terms pay cut for the last twelve years. There are discrepancies between states - the minimum wage in California can be as high as 15.50 U.S. dollars per hour, while a business in Oklahoma may be as low as two U.S. dollars per hour. However, even the higher wage rates in states like California and Washington may be lacking - one analysis found that if minimum wage had kept up with productivity, the minimum hourly wage in the U.S. should have been 22.88 dollars per hour in 2021. Additionally, the impact of decreased purchasing power due to inflation will impact different parts of society in different ways with stark contrast in average wages due to both gender and race.

Wage growth exceeding inflation for a bit recently doesn't make up for the preceding decades of wage stagnation, and even if it did, wages still haven't grown fast enough in the past few years to catch up to inflation. So my original point still stands - unless wage growth outpaces inflation, it doesn't actually lead to an improvement in quality of life.

Many of us are struggling and there are no jobs around that pay over $40 an hour, these types of statistics are useless for the regular working american. Wages have not kept up with the cost of living at all.