Not trying to detract from the criticism of cost of living, but the source of survey is interesting:

> This study was completed among a random sample of registered voters who responded to an email invitation to complete the survey.

Also, 58% of the respondents have been in the bay area for over 20 years. 75% of the respondents have been in the area for more than 10 years. Yet 71% of the respondents do not have children living in the household. So the majority of the respondents are not young newcomers to the area.

I suspect there is an overweight of people ready to retire and move out of the area. I have a neighbor who's just ready to do that. With more baby boomers retiring, I am not surprised to see more retirees looking to move out of the bay area in the sample population.