I live in the Sydney CBD fringe, about 1.5km out of the CBD. My rent is about $2,500 AUD a month and with other costs of living I could easily have a good life on $5,000 AUD a month.
LOL. I think many people's expectation of what they "need" is actually skewed way high. If I was pulling in a consistent AU$5000 a month from my app business I would be quite content with that (as would my wife!).