Most people I know in town make $10-20/hr. There is a startup scene here but most of those companies either use interns or pay less than $20/hr.

There is a large portion of the population in jobs like nursing, banking, tourism or real estate but they are not the ones who are doing the jobs we are talking about.

Who is going to serve/cook the food? Where will they live?

Teachers make $29-49k in my area. Nurses $39-68k. (based on glassdoor).

Average hourly rate is $17.39 (payscale.com)

If you work 2000hrs/year your pre tax income is ~$35k. Right now there are 1bd apartments going for $1100/mo (albeit brand new with amenities such as pool/weight room).

So if you are lucky enough to make the "average" pay in the area that means you can get a 1bd apt...assuming you qualify. A very low end house you need to make $75k/year to purchase...again assuming you qualify.