I don't understand how $180k was enough in San Francisco at any time in the last 15 years -- unless you were partnered with someone with a comparable salary.
In San Francisco, even $180k tech salaries are no longer enough
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Re: In San Francisco, even $180k tech salaries are no longer enough
#32> Mr. Woodbury recently moved to Carnelian Bay, on Lake Tahoe, Calif., which is less expensive. Ms. Razniak remains in an apartment in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, which she shares with two roommates and for which she pays $1,650 a month. They’re making the long-distance relationship work.
It sounds like the fellow didn't actually want/need to be in SF. Living in Tahoe is pretty much the polar opposite in terms of urban/rural living. There are obviously places that are near SF that are much cheaper, like Oakland/Richmond/etc.
Re: In San Francisco, even $180k tech salaries are no longer enough
#33I suppose a big change over the past 50 years is that we really boosted jobs that must be done in big cities. Wanna earn a lot of money? Take on a lot of debt and become a lawyer/accountant/etc. But we didn't create more cities. There's more people competing for the same small amount of commutable real estate, and the winners are the top earners. I'm not sure how you fix it. The organic fix ought to be that businesse…
High CoL jurisdictions like having the offices there, they just prefer that the employees and their families be someone else's problem. I couldn't imagine anything short of a federal right to remote work really doing much.
Re: In San Francisco, even $180k tech salaries are no longer enough
#34Comparison is the thief of joy. I know plenty of people who live in SF on much lower salaries. Acting like you need AI bucks to survive is out of touch with the reality of the common man.
A household that earns nearly 400k talking about "I'm not completely hopeless" is shameful. Take some lessons from people who earn a lot less and are more happy.
Re: In San Francisco, even $180k tech salaries are no longer enough
#35I don't understand how $180k was enough in San Francisco at any time in the last 15 years -- unless you were partnered with someone with a comparable salary.
> I don't understand how $180k was enough in San Francisco at any time in the last 15 years
Inflation. $180k in 2010 USD is just shy of $300k in 2026 USD.
Re: In San Francisco, even $180k tech salaries are no longer enough
#36I don't understand how $180k was enough in San Francisco at any time in the last 15 years -- unless you were partnered with someone with a comparable salary.
It was enough for a single person in a good studio or middling 1BR with no kids, probably no car, and no desire to own property.
Re: In San Francisco, even $180k tech salaries are no longer enough
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
>There is no easy answer, but the only viable solution is building a lot more dense housing and public transit for said urbanism What about fewer people with the same amount of housing stock? I'm not even arguing that this is the better solution, but I don't even see people entertain it for the purposes of arguing against it.
> I don't even see people entertain it for the purposes of arguing against it. Luckily, we have several recent real-life examples demonstrating why “fewer people” is not a viable solution: Because you either need to forcibly remove people, which involves an army of stormtroopers kidnapping people off the street and killing innocent people in the process, or you have to control pregnancy and childbirth, involving a le…
The US population may already be declining. In prior years the only thing keeping it increasing was immigration, and immigration has fallen considerably under Trump:
https://www.npr.org/2026/06/27/nx-s1-5871338/tps-population-...
Re: In San Francisco, even $180k tech salaries are no longer enough
#38I don't understand how $180k was enough in San Francisco at any time in the last 15 years -- unless you were partnered with someone with a comparable salary.
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Re: In San Francisco, even $180k tech salaries are no longer enough
#39Median household income in SF is $147k. If $180k isn't enough, $147k isn't either.
Re: In San Francisco, even $180k tech salaries are no longer enough
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I don't even see people entertain it for the purposes of arguing against it. Luckily, we have several recent real-life examples demonstrating why “fewer people” is not a viable solution: Because you either need to forcibly remove people, which involves an army of stormtroopers kidnapping people off the street and killing innocent people in the process, or you have to control pregnancy and childbirth, involving a le…
The US population may already be declining. In prior years the only thing keeping it increasing was immigration, and immigration has fallen considerably under Trump: https://www.npr.org/2026/06/27/nx-s1-5871338/tps-population-...
That’s correct, and to my point above, driving immigration down to this degree required a level of violence and cruelty so extreme that even the people who voted for it now disapprove of it. And that’s before the profound economic consequences really hit.