Statistics bureau in my country does not publish median income, but I have a good guess on what it looks like based on averages and quantiles. I would consider

Statistics bureau in my country does not publish median income, but I have a good guess on what it looks like based on averages and quantiles. I would consider 40% of that a good deal on rent in urban area. Add communal bills on top of that and you easily get at least 50% of median household income spent on having a roof above you alone. Add food, clothing, an occasional treat for a child and it gets pretty difficult to survive till next paycheck without constantly thinking about reducing price of everyday meal. I would guess that most HN readers are (and it would be strange if they did not, actually) disconnected from a below average/median person to a level that they only exist in some urban legends of a student living in a cupboard under some granny's stairs and having ramen on holidays. That's a bit superfluous, but median income in urban areas is not something easy to make a living of. Your mileage may vary.