These are bad assumptions and it shouldn't bother you that much.
There are lots of people making $200k+ living paycheck to paycheck. If the most basic discussion about cost of living is going to blow your mind then just exit this discussion.
If you wanted month-to-month rent in my building in San Francisco (as opposed to a more typical yearly lease), it is $11,000 per month, with yearly leases being about half that.
People that only make "$200k+" via wage work aren't living here, just like I planned and the networking opportunities are pretty amazing.
I work and live in the Bay Area. It is a cruel joke to say that any FANG engineer (or other $200k+ earner) working here is living "paycheck to paycheck". Even in your reply, you provide a solution (just one of many) to this hypothetical renter's problem: switch to a yearly lease and save $66,000 a year. People who are actually living paycheck to paycheck don't have the luxury of making these kinds of financial decisions.
Meanwhile, I know a number of Bay Area grad students who still get by on a salary of $30,000, and even they wouldn't say that they're living "paycheck to paycheck" for the most part.
There are lots of people making $200k+ living paycheck to paycheck. If the most basic discussion about cost of living is going to blow your mind then just exit this discussion.
If you wanted month-to-month rent in my building in San Francisco (as opposed to a more typical yearly lease), it is $11,000 per month, with yearly leases being about half that.
People that only make "$200k+" via wage work aren't living here, just like I planned and the networking opportunities are pretty amazing.