The data does show that if you look at what cost of living is buying you in the midwest versus the bay. New construction large homes on large lots are in reach. Multiple vehicles are in reach. Everything is in reach after that. I'm sorry but the housing stock in the bay is just poor quality for what it is. The lots are tiny barely larger than the home. The home is small. The bedrooms are small. Most you can do is tear out the old chicken wire and plaster building and build a big ugly modern glass/cement box to the edges of the property line and even then you are slumming it in terms of space to what you'd have in the midwest. You want actual property, with some setbacking from your neigbors, and still convenient to things, its just not really available even if you had the money. Like those homes on pinehill or robin road in san mateo would be the caliber i'm talking about you can buy as a tradie in the midwest, in terms of setback and square footage, even finishes too for that matter. and that land in the midwest will actually be relatively flat and probably cleared out for you vs it being a home tucked in high slope chaparral you might technically own but can't really do anything with like build outlaying buildings.
You could have an indoor pool in a detached building. You could keep horses. You could have a 6 car garage. All the upgrades from the builder too. All for a song in comparison to a home a fraction of all that in the bay. I mean just start looking on zillow between these sorts of homes in say indiana or ohio and it is absurd the difference in cost of living. How much you'd have to pay to rent a tiny old boat on lake tahoe for the day vs buying a boat outright and even paying to winterize and store it in a yacht club on a great lake. SF country club fees vs midwest, literally exclusive fuck you old money rates vs only a couple thousand initiation fee for the same sort of course conditions and probably a nicer appointed newer constructed clubhouse in the midwest. Same is true for the private schools too, the nicest ones nationally recognized in the area can only charge so much because there's just so many people with kids and wealth in the private school market so they aren't absolutely stupid like in the bay. Even the public schools go up to bat with those in some districts.
I don't think "the data" you might cite are considering all of these factors of the lived experience. Maybe one or two economic indicators but not how life actually plays out with even the half dozen or so things I've laid out above.