As a single data point, I'm 25, have a bachelors degree, engaged, no kids (we adopted a dog a few months ago, though), on my third job and third apartment. I co

As a single data point, I'm 25, have a bachelors degree, engaged, no kids (we adopted a dog a few months ago, though), on my third job and third apartment. I contribute to my 401k up to the match and tuck away a little extra in a Roth IRA, certainly less than the annual contribution limit. Rent and utilities are ~40% of my take-home pay, my car + auto loan + student loans are another ~20% (student loans being the largest chunk). I put the rest towards food, extra payments on my >4% student loans, and savings in a HYSA. At my current rate of savings, it would take around 3 years to save up for a 5% down payment (looking at the median home price for the county I live in). Given that I'll probably want to take some vacations, will have to pay for at least part of my own wedding, might have an unexpected medical emergency, etc, I estimate I won't be able to save enough for a house until my late twenties at the earliest. That's also assuming that I won't drain my emergency fund for the down payment. I know some people who job hop between FAANG and other large tech companies. Each offer is better than what they would have received as a raise should they have chosen to stay with their company. That's just a product of high demand and low unemployment, and also in some cases, being better at tech interviews than actually writing software. I can't speak for renting in the bay area, but in my case, people cycle through apartments because either the landlord is attempting to jack up rent, not managing the property correctly, or to move closer to a new job. I also can't speak for mid-30s, but the general sentiment in my circles around the mid-20s is that almost no one feels financially prepared enough to settle down, buy a house, and have kids. And that's mostly people in tech. The people I do know who have children or own a home (I don't know anyone my age who has both) are all in lower CoL areas.