This doesn't really ever make sense to me. A person living in a place where things cost less, makes less. It always seems to work out about the same. I live in California. An apartment here can cost well over $1500 in rent. I think my husband and I made 38,000 last year (not each, all together). We pay $1000 for our apartment, insure three vehicles and generally don't go without. If he took home 70+ and I still had my income then we would be pretty fat and happy. Maybe it seems hard, but cost of living just isn't a real issue. Locality pay (this is what most people have, COLA is mostly just for Alaska) more that makes up for the difference. I say that because I know, that in one of the most exspensive states to live in, I could make it work even without the 14% that everyone gets. I know that I could balance my budget with the 37,000 or whatever base is. And BTW, SoCal locality is well above 20%...Florida too