[gsmaverick]

Not sure where you get this idea that one cannot live in San Francisco/Silicon Valley without a six figure salary. Thousands of people live in San Francisco and do not work in tech and surely make much less than six figures while still live relatively well.

[eshvk]

I live in San Francisco. 35-40% of my income goes to oil the tax wheels, another good 15 % goes to make sure I can live within the city. If you keep doing the math, you don't save much at the end. I am not saying I live paycheck to paycheck but the city is so freaking expensive that you don't save much. In fact, a friend making 30% or so less in Austin did the math and found out he could save much more than I could. On the other hand, I am not complaining, I choose to live in this great and amazing city.