EDIT: corrected post with biweekly to monthly pay

My point is that $160k is enough for anybody. That much per person would give any household a very comfortable lifestyle even in a HCOL area.

$160k/year is way low to live a "very comfortable lifestyle", even more so especially in a HCOL area.

Lets use NYC as an example of a HCOL area. Here's what that looks like for take-home pay:

source

Lets call it $8,800/month to make it easy.

So a person needs to house themselves. Lets look at NYC rents. Here's median prices:

And here's some specifics from a few places in the city:

source

So looking at the cheapest of the 3 listed here, the small 1 br 1 bath place in the East Village will set you back about $3200/month. Of our $8,800, we now have just $5,600/month for every other living necessities including food, transportation, clothing, and the big budget killer we haven't talked about yet...health insurance/healthcare.

All of this also assumes a person would be single. If they have children a 1br apartment isn't going to cut it, and the costs for raising children are also a large increase in monthly money burn. People still have to save for retirement too.

$160k/year is way low for: "That much per person would give any household a very comfortable lifestyle even in a HCOL area."