1) NYC is not just Manhattan. The outer boroughs are also NYC and are far cheaper. Not Nashville cheap but livable. You don’t need 8 people in 3 bedrooms. You can even live in jersey.
2) A lot of NYC has affordable housing and projects. A lot of communities making the basic minimum wage or not at all can live there.
3) 110K is a absolutely doable in NYC. It’s just not doable if you live outside your means.
> In NYC? They're living without health insurance, 8 people in a 3 bedroom, with less than $500 in savings, and credit card debt, yes.
I understand that they don't have savings and have some credit card debt, but we're talking $50,000 per year. And this is over the median household income[0]. Are the people in the 25th percentile living 16 people in a 3 bedroom?
The OP has updated to say their mortgage is only $2,600/mo., so even after housing that leaves ~70k over what median household makes before rent. (The OP also reports having three kids, which is almost certainly a large part of that $70k.)
I suspect you don't spend a lot of time with people making $30-$70k. They exist, often have housing, and many of them even eat food. It's worth examining how they manage rather than dismissing this as an impossibility.
> Or they commute two hours each way from Philly.
Nope. NYC residents. Median household income of $63,998 (2019).
1) NYC is not just Manhattan. The outer boroughs are also NYC and are far cheaper. Not Nashville cheap but livable. You don’t need 8 people in 3 bedrooms. You can even live in jersey.
2) A lot of NYC has affordable housing and projects. A lot of communities making the basic minimum wage or not at all can live there.
3) 110K is a absolutely doable in NYC. It’s just not doable if you live outside your means.