You’re catching flak, but I’m with you, I live in NYC and I wouldn’t even look at a job for less than $400k liquid total comp. And that would be cutting it close.

That said, people do it:

1. What constitutes a “decent area” varies from person to person.

2. My kid goes to private school (at more $5k per month), but some people live in districts where public schools are great.

3. Living in a no income tax state helps a lot too.

I could see a family being just fine on $10k per month take-home if they bought their house awhile ago, kids go to public school, they travel domestically, etc.