I live in Houston and my first year compensation out of college was about $83k. That was really good considering that my peers who stayed in Houston got around $60k it seems. Anyway, even I could not afford to get a house with a yard in the city center ("within biking distance"). At least, not any sort of decent home that one would want to live in. A nice 1br apartment in the city center (nice = safe, clean, updated appliances, washer/dryer in the unit, etc.) is also going to cost $1k/month minimum--anything less and you'll be giving up safety, comfort, or proximity. Of course, that's a far cry from SV, but it's still far from ridiculously cheap as well.

As for a house out in a suburb? Absolutely. Minus the downpayment, I could have afforded a decent one right out of college. But those houses come with a minimum of a 30 minute commute, one way, by car.

I was always under the impression that Houston was actually cheaper than Austin, but perhaps I'm wrong.