While city life certainly comes with more monetary opportunity, I am still not sure it is worth the costs. I earn 200k/yr and struggle with the prospect of being a home owner here, knowing full well I make well above the median. Visiting my home town, I talk with peers who stuck around and bought homes with a bar tender's salary shortly after graduating highschool. They have their own challenges, but they are very different than mine. The grass is always greener, but I feel that the American dream of family, home ownership, and independence and is much more attainable in small towns.