Hey now that Futurama is relevant again im gonna share something i realized about it recently.
Zoidberg is an anomaly. An acclaimed doctor of alien physiology who can only afford to live in his workplace's dumpster. Farnsworth pays everyone well enough to survive, except Zoidberg. But Farnsworth isn't in charge of finances. Hermes is. Hermes who hates Zoidberg, belittles him and abuses him at every chance he gets.
Hermes is conspicuously wealthy. He seems humble at work, but his house is in an orbital suburb, which means his commute alone is prohibitively expensive, not to mention his mortgage. When we look at his neighbors we see... Judge Whitey. Judge Whitey, the character whose sole purpose is to be a caricature of snooty, rich, powerful white men.
A mid-level bureaucrat simply couldn't make enough to live directly above a rich and powerful judge like that. I don't know what LaBarbara does, but if she was willing to take a job at Planet Express, it probably doesn't earn her enough for THAT.
However. There is one person who makes enough for that. Or rather, should. Zoidberg. Hermes has been stealing Zoidberg's salary for decades, so long and so completely that Zoidberg thought that's just how doctors are treated on Earth. Its so obvious to me now that I've realized it but there's no way Farnsworth would let his best friend live in poverty like that if it was in his control. However, Farnsworth has been senile since long before Planet Express existed, so it's easy for Hermes to take everything Zoidberg should be making.
But thats just a theory. A FILM THEORY HAHAHAAHAAAA jk i just dont know how to end theory posts like this