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To be fair the potential to earn a high salary is much higher in NYC than many other places. All those huge towers are full of executives, VP's and highly skilled workers. There are many hundreds of thousands of people making 6-figure salaries here and tens of thousands making over a million.

However, many people in NYC do not make big money and it comes down to living further away from Manhattan and having roommates. Depending on the industry you're in you can have a huge range in salaries based on experience, your reputation and simple luck.

Actually, a pretty significant portion of the luxury development is purchased by non-residents as a place to park their money. This makes up a high percentage of AirBNBs here.

Roommates. Very few single NYers in market apartments live by themselves. It's a status symbol, of sorts.

I pay $4000/month for a crummy apartment on the lower west side..