Housing in SV is insane and I think someone could do better living elsewhere, but feeling poor is ridiculous. For one, almost everything else you buy from clothes to electronics to cars to travel to restaurants costs about the same no matter where you live. For another, if you live in a place with good public transportation, or where you can bike to work, it’s much easier to get by with 1 car for the family or maybe even no car at all. California has the best public university system in the country, so there’s less need to send your kids OOS or to a private school for college. Last, I think a lot of people have no clue what middle class is. The median gross income of a full time worker with a BS is only about $60k. If you can net more than that after taxes and rent, you’re doing better than most people.