Womp, womp
Not news to people who live there…
Yeah, we have known how high our COL in Honolulu is forever.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/06/25/the-eye-popping-definition-of-what-is-low-income-in-the-bay-area-increases-again/ lists the “low income” threshold for some affordable housing programs as $117,400 per year for a family of four in San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo counties (west of the bay).
It is $94,450 in Santa Clara county (“Silicon Valley”) and $89,600 in Alameda and Contra Costa counties (east of the bay).
The article interviews an example person who lives just below the “low income” threshold, but does not seem to be financially stressed (though is “not immune to financial concerns”). But he grew up in much poorer circumstances, presumably retaining low cost lifestyle habits.
Where do all the San Francisco area families who earn just $18k/year live for the ~5 years it takes them to get into subsidized housing?
They live in a RV on the street (there are a lot of people living in RVs parked on the street in Mountain View, home of Google world headquarters). Or they live in Stockton, a two and a half hour commute away, each way. Or they squeeze six people into a one BR apartment, or live with their parents or children, or in homeless encampments along the creek, or couch-surf on friends’ couches. Or they live in their car and take showers at their work.
The terrible part of this is, we know how to build houses and apartments. But every attempt to up-zone anywhere, or get rid of pointless years-long red tape that prevents market-price housing from being built, is fought by NIMBYs.
Yes, there are people living in parked cars, tents, under tarps and many other non-houses in Honolulu as well. Our state has the highest per capita homeless rate in the US, with no improvements in sight.
And this is why I sometimes encourage people to think twice about the UC Berkeley degree.
It is important for folks to be mindful of the cost of living and trade offs between different places they could live. Graduating without huge debt is always good to give more options.
Recently BBC had a video about a concept in low income housing call Half a House. The homeowners get a basic kitchen and 2 bedrooms. The rest of the empty space is built out as the owners can afford it or do it themselves. The developments start off looking all the same but over the years the owners have personalized their choices in what the other half should look like eg window sizes, balconies, doors.
COL is definitely a major consideration in life. We’ve made sure our lads know all about how it affects life.
If I google the median income in the county I live in it’s 60K. If I do the same with San Francisco it’s 78K.
If I google median house cost in my county it’s 197K. If I do the same with SF it’s 1.6 million.
Personally, we like living in a lower COL area. My lads will have to make their own choices, but oldest has already swapped out Atlanta for a less crowded (another preference we share) and less expensive area - keeping his job and income. (He mostly works from home at this point - computer job.)
Some years ago my younger son moved from Boston to Cincinnati due to a corporate merger. He retained the same salary. He purchased a house there for $300,000 that would have cost $800,000 (and been unaffordable) in a similar area of the Boston suburbs.
Being in Chicago when all my friends are in Boston, NY, DC, the Bay Area, and Seattle makes me feel like I’m getting a steal. If all my friends were in Cleveland, Nashville, Albuquerque, and Pittsburgh, I’m sure I’d feel differently.
Over the course of our careers, we moved all over the country without salary adjustments. Phoenix is a steal. 
I’ve been looking at renting apartments in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The rent is very cheap. A landlord mentioned to me that one can buy a house there for $50K to $100K. Fifty K? For a house??? I’m like, “Don’t air condition. Buy two and keep one in the freezer.”
I live in Silicon Valley. I’m trying to figure out how many hundreds of miles I’d have to go to find a place where houses in plausible neighborhoods cost $50K to $100K.
I live in flyover country where costs of living are low. Six figures will give you a more comfortable lifestyle, but not wealthy by any means. I cannot imagine living on that in a place like the Bay Area. My personal average house costs about 1/10 of what an average house in the Bay Area costs.
@TomSrOfBoston Cincinnati has a very low cost of living with a plethora of affordabke housing in excellent school districts. I miss it.
@“Cardinal Fang” , K’zoo is affordable, but neighborhood is important. Like any city, there are areas one may want to avoid for safety reasons.
I sent you a PM, @kelsmom.