Thanks to the Internet numbing my moral compass, it's not often I'm shocked, but 53% is just horrifying :(. On the other foot, I live in Australia where most can't afford to buy a house in Sydney, even with what would be considered pretty good wages.

That's why I moved out of core tech and became a librarian (which is still pretty tech) in a more regional city. Lower wages but slightly more affordable houses mean I might still have a chance at giving my kids a mortgage one day..

In addition to the other responses, remember that US federal income tax is a graduated tax rate, so even at ~40% on 120k, you're only paying 40% on your income over like 90k, lower tax rates for income in lower brackets.

Between (hidden) payroll taxes and state and federal income taxes a developer making 120k in San Francisco isn't too far below 53%.

120k is in the top 20% of wage earners in the U.S. That's quite a bit different than $35k which is in the bottom ~30% (in the U.S.)

It's only 40% in California at $120k. And 25% at the $35k level OP mentioned.

I've been watching some of these projects for a while now. They are cool but the four-legged ones always creep me out slightly..