Six figures in San Francisco is a joke. I was working out of Raleigh, NC until recently, with a take home pay w/benefits around $85k. I calculated to have an equivalent standard of living and spending money in SF, I would need to take home around 150-160k. Equivalent! That includes no raise over my previous position!
Housing was a large part of it, but equally problematic was taxes. The more you make, each extra marginal dollar is taxed at the highest bracket. So each marginal dollar earned goes a little bit less far. Combined, the high cost-of-living and marginal tax rates make SF extremely expensive. I laugh at 120k offers in SF, that's like making 65k in a reasonable city.
Housing was a large part of it, but equally problematic was taxes. The more you make, each extra marginal dollar is taxed at the highest bracket. So each marginal dollar earned goes a little bit less far. Combined, the high cost-of-living and marginal tax rates make SF extremely expensive. I laugh at 120k offers in SF, that's like making 65k in a reasonable city.