A lot of dumb people here make a lot of money and spend more than they make.

the COL also varies wildly. I could move 1.5 hours away from where I live now and pay like 1/3 of what I do now for rent/mortgage. But I'd have to drive 3+ hours a day to get to my job. and the salaries 1.5 hours outside my city are literally half what they are in the city. i'd have to take 50% paycut to work in a rural area.

things cost a lot in places where salaries are high. it's that simple. high income areas have huge demand for jobs housing, and other necessiteis, so costs are high.

but nobody wants to live where it's cheap to live because there are limited job opportunities. I could afford a mansion in louisiana... but my job doesn't exist there and if it did, it would pay like 40K a year vs the 150K i make currently.

hence lots of people are moving more and more to the major cities trying to get the bigger salaries.

There is some truth in the common refrain of "Americans overspend on cars, junk, etc", but the answer to your question is very fucking expensive. I moved to the french Riviera and my cost of living went way down compared to Florida. And that includes going from employer funded healthcare to paying out of pocket for all health care in France. Everything is cheaper, food, car, insurance, I even spend less on fuel because I only need to drive once per week so I only fill my car up with 7€/gallon gas every few weeks.