It is for me. I work as a research engineer at a non-FAANG company in Silicon Valley and I have 4.5 years of industry experience largely in R&D environments. If I were in the Sacramento metro area then I could afford to purchase a detached single-family home in all but the most expensive neighborhoods. I would have a wide selection of safe neighborhoods to choose from with excellent public schools, beautiful parks, and other amenities.

Unfortunately, in the Bay Area my options for purchasing a detached single-family house are limited. At my current salary, if I want to purchase a detached single-family home, I'd either need to buy it in exurbia (e.g., places like Tracy to the east or Hollister to the south) or in East Oakland, which is still struggling with crime. Both places are a long commute from my Silicon Valley office. If I want to purchase a place within an hour from my job such as the southern part of San Jose, I'd need a considerable salary boost. Places like Cupertino and Sunnyvale seem impossibly expensive to me.

I've been thinking a lot about where I'd like to settle down. Silicon Valley has a wealth of specialized research scientist and research engineer positions, but I don't see myself ever being able to afford a house within an hour from Silicon Valley unless I join an early-stage startup that happens to be a wild success. On the flip side, there are plenty of places across the country, even within California, where homes are affordable with a low six-figure salary, but the problem is the types of jobs that I want tend to be restricted to tech hubs, which tend to have very high housing costs.