Higher income means higher taxes, and if you're in a high COL area, then there's the added expenses. Of course, if you've purchased a home in said high COL, th

Higher income means higher taxes, and if you're in a high COL area, then there's the added expenses. Of course, if you've purchased a home in said high COL, that could be seen as an investment - and the high mortgage goes towards equity. I can only talk about my own experience is the living / working in low vs high COL area: When I live in a high COL area, most my money went towards housing. And while my salary was significantly higher, it was also added stress. I was absolutely dependent on employment, especially the first years. If I lost my job, and couldn't find a new job FAST, then that would effectively mean eviction or foreclosure. That kinda created extra overhead, knowing that you'd be bound to some work - no mate what - until your house was paid off. As for living in low COL, it was obviously much less stressful. Jobs weren't as plentiful, but finding a place to live was a non-issue. The downturn was that you actively needed to invest your money, because you knew that your home wasn't going to appreciate much in price. If you wanted to move from low COL to a high COL, sales from you home or whatever would be pocket change compared to the initial costs of getting started in said high COL city. But then again, the fact that you could be more selective about you jobs, and getting laid off wouldn't be the end of the world, was def. something that reduced stress. So purely from a financial standpoint, there are pros and cons to both.