[kevinnk]

I think a total household income of ~150-200k is right around the cutoff for 4 people to live in Palo Alto together. You can split that up however you want though. In my case, that's 4 people earning ~50k rooming together. In the case of a family, one person earning 120k and the other doing a startup earning 50k (plus 2 non working kids) works too.

You're right that someone trying to support a family on a single income at 50k would have a tough time, but I think the range of people who can make it work is a lot broader than you're making it seem.

[tqi]

To be fair two non working kids have a lot more costs than a frugal 20 something. Childcare alone in the bay area is probably in the 10s of thousands a year range.