"I probably should have been more clear - are there areas in the bay area with good schools, and homes that require significantly less earnings than 175k per year (say, 125k?) And I'd like to not spend 2 hrs commuting, because spending time with my children would be nice. In my experience, you have to pay a lot more here to get the same quality of life that you could find elsewhere. I live in the Bay area, and am raising a family here. It is expensive - 175K/yr would probably buy you the same standard of living as 80k/yr would in Ottawa, Canada, where I grew up." - Ajay Kapal