[timwiseman]

Excellent point. To make it slightly more concrete, I make vastly more now in Las Vegas than I did in North Carolina. Yet, in some ways I am worse off in a material way. I make more, but I pay much more for a smaller house, much more for electricity, and slightly more for food than I did in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Overall, I have less discretionary budget than before.

Of course, this is counterbalanced by having more opportunities in terms of career, education, culture, and entertainment.