I think a lot of it is that pay scales on cost of living. It allows prices to go to crazy amounts and also disincentives moving to cheaper areas. If pay didn't scale on cost of living then tons of people would move from those high cost areas. I'm making 70k a year but I'm putting 14k into my 401k and investing an additional 14k each year (saving up for a down payment on a house) and that's while having hobbies and travelling some