I feel your pain, P.G. Barnett. I looked back over my Medium payout history and found this:

1. I made more per month back when The Writing Cooperative and The Weekly Knob were the only places where writers could earn. This was back before Medium opened the paywall to everyone. Back then I averaged $50 per month writing one or two posts per week.
2. Curation has had little effect on my earnings. It’s hit or miss as to whether a post gets viewed, especially if it’s not about sex, dating, or coding. My highest earning curated piece is The God of Poop, and I think that’s only because I used the word “poop” in the title.
3. Placement in a large publication has had little effect on my earnings. I had a post published in Human Parts, and it’s earned A whopping $22 versus the $40 bucks I’m at for the poop story.

In the end, I’ll continue to write and interact on Medium for the reasons you’re still here- the community and the chance to share on this creative outlet. I’m writing more fiction outside Medium these days, and trying to get a short story collection together and also beginning a novel. I think Medium is a great place to connect with other writers but a not so great place to make a living.