I'm 26 and I make 160k in financial services. Its enough for me and a girlfriend to afford a 600 sqft loft.

80k will get you 5 roommates and bedroom with a curtain.

In San Francisco 250k to 300k/y is high paid. 100k-150k is making it, 80k would be in the low paid arena.

"San Francisco ranks third of American cities in median household income with a 2007 value of $65,519." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco#Demographics

I've got a 90m^2 flat next to the beach, a car, a girlfriend who has no income since November, a cute dog :-) and money in the bank. All paid with my less than 40k€/year income. Of course this is not The Valley, this is Barcelona.

I didn't know that living there was so expensive, I'm sorry for you :-(

Nah,you can get a nice 1bd in SF for $2100 a month and save $1k/mo

You're full of shit.

Meh, quit whining. Try 32k in Boston and get back to me about "low paid"