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The numbers in the charts look exactly correct to me. (I'm a math prof, we get similar ranges of salaries.)

But as the charts show, assistant and associate profs are in the high 40s to low 50s range. Only a fraction (a third to a half?) of all profs are full profs, and what the chart doesn't show is that the salary at promotion to full is well below the $80K range in the chart (it takes years after promotion to make to that level). That is, you might be in the mid 50s just before promotion to full, and end up in the low 60s just after promotion to full. (I just got promoted to full, and I get about 60K not counting any summer teaching. If I teach the allowed two summer courses, that would up my salary to about 70K.)

Salaries by the way vary substantially by type of institution. It's lower at undergraduate-only schools and it's lower in fly-over land (e.g. the Ohio River valley, which is where I am).

One thing to bear in mind: it is often difficult to become a college prof, and it can be tough to get tenure too. This is a real cost of an academic career, to be balanced against salaries and tenure: People are often in their early 30s upon clearing a PhD, and they often have to go through one or more postdocs before landing a tenure-track position. Mid 30s or older. Then add 7 years to get tenure. So you're an assistant prof in your late 30s or early 40s. A software engineer may well have been programming (at 60K+ a year) for 15 or 20 years by that point in time. An academic career can actually be a massive opportunity cost.

One thing to bear in mind: it is often difficult to become a college prof, and it can be tough to get tenure too.

Difficult as in too many applicants and not enough positions, but not always difficult in the amount of work required. I've seen first hand what goes on in the Social Sciences, it's all politics. All you have to do to get a PhD in Sociology is blame some world problem on capitalists or one of the other disfavored groups. Psych and Anthro are not much different. Of course areas like Math are not like this but for the most part 60's radicals control the Universities and push their politics on naive students. They also play favorites with grades, something that just about everyone I know has had to deal with. To anyone going to college, don't ever underestimate how petty or spiteful a Marxist professor can be.

As a lecturer in Computer Science, I appreciate your posting a lot.

There is certainly an upside to an academic career. I like the flex time and not having to wear a tie. My problem is that people not in the profession see ONLY the upside. Your post helped balance things.