Do you consider the quality/cost of medical benefits a factor in being "well paid"?

Yes

Sure you can get by on a whole lot less. But if you're a recent transplant and you want to have the 'trappings of an america dream' here, you'd need 150k+ to be 'comfortable'. Remember the question wasn't what salary do you need to get buy, it was what was a 'good' salary. In major cities you'll find that a salary to be comfortable is a whole lot higher than that in low cost areas. Taxes and housing kill you.

Way, way above $75K

"Comfortable" is a very subjective term, which is the point of thread, I guess. My point, however, was that Gonzo was full of shit with the story about a guy HAVING to work 4 jobs to make $250,000/year just to survive. lulz

EDIT: Or maybe the Taxi driver was full of shit, either way, the point stands.

"Well paid" doesn't mean being able to buy a house in one of the most expensive markets in the world."

Point.
And auto insurance too. We recently had one return to the nest. Between her and her fiance they are making well over 40k, and they couldn't hack it in a small apartment in not the best neighborhood. Granted both were stupid enough to get a car loan. But when rent, food, utilities, car loans, health insurance (mandatory in Mass. We've already been Obamacized here)and car insurance (over 200/month each and both good drivers), they couldn't hack it.

if you're happy doing it.
you're paying your cost of living bills.
able to rat-hole a little back for emergencies.

you got a well paying job, imo.
sec

Why not? Well paid to most people means able to live comfortably. What does living comfortably mean to you? Owning your own home(note I don't necessarily say a house), able to afford vacations, investing in your future and providing and nest egg for emergencies. Basic trappings of what people would call the american dream. Why should it matter where you live? The metric is subjective but the cost to have similar basic things everywhere is going to vary widely based upon where you live.

Besides SF isn't even in the top 20 most expensive real estate markets in the world.

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08...g/source/1.htm

Holy shit, I pay annually what they pay in 4 months.

Auto insurance here is brutal to begin with. But 18-25 year olds get HAMMERED. Carrying full comprehensive costs them both over $2K a year. Good news is next year they turn 26 and it drops. Alot.

You can live very comfortably in most of the country for $75k. You can't live in all of them, though.

Judging by this poll, half of the people here think that 80% of Americans aren't well paid.

Of course, they are all banging supermodels, too.

I've never banged a supermodel. Unless you count Paris Hilton. But she's served more than McDonalds, so there's that.

Doesn't matter what you make. I think I make a lot of money, but i am extremely unhappy. I am self employed and the wife stays home, but I want somthing more.

Yeah...that same apartment here...I'm assuming (1-2 bedrooms) would be 300-400 all bills paid except cable and internet.

My last house was a 2 bedroom for $300. It wasn't as nice as my current house though.

You find a 2-3 bdrm house over 400-500 here in town it better be super nice.