>The Bay isn't the real world by a long shot. Neither is Manhattan. From the NYT in 2009, and prices for schools and child care and real estate have only gone

>The Bay isn't the real world by a long shot. Neither is Manhattan. From the NYT in 2009, and prices for schools and child care and real estate have only gone up since then: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/fashion/08halfmill.html http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/fashion/08halfmill.html "Five hundred thousand dollars — the amount President Obama wants to set as the top pay for banking executives whose firms accept government bailout money — seems like a lot, and it is a lot. To many people in many places, it is a princely sum to live on. But in the neighborhoods of New York City and its suburban enclaves where successful bankers live, half a million a year can go very fast." A lot of this is real estate and private schools, of course. You could get a 5br/5,000 ft^2 house in Green Bay, Wisconsin for 400K: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3318-Whittier-Ct-Green-Bay-WI-54311/67984340_zpid/ http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3318-Whittier-Ct-Green-Bay... While a 5br/5,000 ft^2 prewar apartment (not even a single-family home!) in Manhattan would be $24M, and that's with a kinda small and not very attractive kitchen: http://www.mironproperties.com/NY/NYC-Apartment-38737-Upper-East-Side-5-Bedroom-Apartment-For-Sale http://www.mironproperties.com/NY/NYC-Apartment-38737-Upper-... Many folks, like you, are better off moving away from the Bay Area and taking a salary cut if they don't already own a house and would like to buy one.