Cost of living is hella expensive there
You can still live in the BAY.... GREEN BAY
for wayyyy lesss
If you live where the diamond and golds are then yes but if you make that diamond but live in the suburb so of speak like how you mn people are living around the central minneapolis / st. paul area then you'll be fine.
Give you an example. A 2 bedroom apartment in san jose goes for $2000 while driving 2 hours away a 2 bedroom can be had for 900.
Make money over there but live over there. All that driving sucks but it is a way of life for Millions of commuter workers here in california. It is a way of life. Yall don't understand. Like milwaukee is only 2 hours away from chicago. If chicago pays you $20 vs kaydoo ghetto mil town at $10, people may seek to make big bucks in chicago and live in an affordable city elsewhere.
For example. Pre pandemic, housing prices in my city goes for $260K for a 3 bedroom. The same size home in san jose goes for 900 to a million. So if your household income is 100k, you can pay it off in 2.6 years vs 10 years in san jose. Some people sold their over priced homes in the bay area for 1 mil and buys 3 houses in my city and lived like a king with 2 rental properties income and a nice home to booth. This is called retirement living for some folks.