Specifically within California, the cost of living for things like housing is sky high if you live local to SF or SV. I live in a lcol and own a home, but home ownership with my same salary would be impossible in a HCOL area. I would easily pay 3-4x as much for the same amount of property. To relocate and keep the same standard of living, my salary would need to effectively 1.5-1.7x just to offset the costs of a higher mortgage payment. And renting in an average apartment in the area would cost at least much as my current mortgage.