Excuse me what? Someone earning that much money is only living paycheck to paycheck because their lifestyle is that expensive. And then it actually is their own fault for buying the 15$ Latte with a 30$ Avocado toast every morning, driving to work in their leased 100k $ car, while their wive drives her own 100k $ car.
Cost of living is not the same as the cost of one’s specific lifestyle.
“Cost of living data includes the expenses incurred for food, shelter, transportation, energy, clothing, education, healthcare, childcare, and entertainment. A cost of living index tracks how much basic expenses rise over time and among different regions.”
I get the concept. But realistically that would mean three things:
In a region where people make 250k a year for them to live paycheck to paycheck the cost of living would need to be somewhere around 4-5x higher than in an area where people would make 50k a year.
That would further mean that in the areas where people make 250k a year noone would exist that could afford anything less than that. So the grocery store cashier and the gas station clerk and the postman would all need to make the same money as google software engineers. That is clearly not the case.
And thirdly that means that either the people who make that much money living paycheck to paycheck are economically illiterate and dont grasp such simple concepts… Or which is far more likely, the quality of life in high cost of living areas is in fact so much better, that it is worth paying the extra.
Either way someone who can make 250k a year is choosing to life paycheck to paycheck by choosing to pay such expenses. They definetely have the means to work somewhere where the difference between cost of living and paycheck allows for saving signficant amounts of money over time. Claiming those people would be victims of the system who were forced to live paycheck to paycheck is simply not true. It is still very much their own choice.
Have you ever looked at the cost of housing in London, Manhattan, Seattle, or San Francisco? The people that you mentioned, the clerks and such, don’t live there. They commute into the city from surrounding areas. A few years ago $180k per year in SF was listed by the government as poverty level. It’s probably higher now. You’re seeing the situation without realizing the problem. And no, the people making those high salaries usually can’t just go live somewhere else. Their industries are region constrained, and if you are lucky enough to work remotely and move to a more affordable area, they often dock your pay. Just two comments up was someone saying their friend’s pay was docked from $8000 per month to $4500 per month when they moved to a cheaper area, even though they had the exact same job at the exact same company. It is entirely possible to make $200k a year and not have a lot of money after your cost of living expenses, especially if you just started making that much.
Working certain high earning jobs means that you are required to live within a certain proximity to the workplace and have a car for mobility reasons.
A 200k job could easily meen 4500 into condo mortgage monthly, plus a presentable car lease at another 1k. No time to cook would be 100$ daily for food. Incidentals, clothing, cosmetic healthcare, 10-30k yearly.
120k debt from schooling at 10%, means a payment of 12k a year pays interest, 36k a year would pay off the debt in a reasonable time frame.
People who work in grocery stores/gas stations in affluent areas typically commute from less affluent areas.
I’ve heard from actual coworkers who live in San Francisco, that even high paying engineering jobs have trouble making rent without roommates or dual incomes. Do they choose to live there? Yes. Can they move further away? Also yes. Do they want to commute 2 hours each way every day? Probably not. Add in taking your kids to school, and suddenly, the choice you think they had is really no choice at all.
Technically, we all have the option to quit our jobs, find a track of land in the middle of nowhere, and live off-grid, but do we? No. Choices aren’t as simple as “find somewhere else to live”.
Yeah, it does happen but because people spend too much on shit they dont need
Edit: I got a 6 figure job. Lived in a cheap shitty basement, rode a bicycle, and took public transportation to work (which was subsidized by the gov). After a few years I quit and had enough to mostly retire
So where is that place, where the cost of living fully eat up a 250k salary, or even a 100k salary? And by eating up i mean actually living paycheck to paycheck, not as given in the examples enjoying many small luxuries that add up, but are not realised as such.
Considering less than 10% of American households earn above 250k I’d say not many (if any) for that range, but 100k a year? That is definitely not enough to live in some big cities in California. SF, LA, SD to name a few. I know New York is also very expensive at 100k.
Again, can’t speak for 250k, 250k is still a lot of money in a year. It might not go as far as it used to, but it’s still good money.
