>If you're pulling six figures in the bay area you could easily be spending 50% of your take home on rent.

You also put up with a longer commute, less house, or a less nice neighborhood and keep your rent under 30% of take home pay.

Edit: Per [0] if you make $100k you end up with $5752 a month in take home pay. At 30% that would give us $1725.60 a month for rent. Checking craigslist [1] there are 55 places available for less than that if you are willing to rent just a room.

[0] https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-paycheck-calculator#... [1] https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/pen/roo?nh=81&max_price=...