Just for some additional context here, look at average housing prices for a single-family home, not even something nice, I mean like 1000sqft 2/2 in a neighborhood without a drive-by shooting once per week. Calculate the mortgage payment on that with the current 7-8% rate. Calculate how much you bring home net on $150k after taxes. Now you’re on your way to seeing why that’s basically “low income” (technically $104k/yr for a single person living alone): https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/low-income-media...

Wait until you find out about Prop 13 and how that new 80 year old $1.5m house you bought costs 10x in taxes what everyone else on the block pays because they got there in the 70s and 80s.

Is there any surprise in an American having such a narrow view where they only consider their own circumstances?

I'm European.