Working from paycheck to paycheck you don't earn 3 times as much and you don't save. Most of my friends who live here can't afford to buy a house, they rent. Almost all my friends who left SF Bay were able to buy within months. Cost of living and the housing prices in SF Bay are extremely disproportionate to salaries.

A number on a bank statement is the map, not the territory. Money's value is what it can be exchanged for. Saving 3 times as much is merely keeping up.

Parent is obviously not saving much if they have to spend 50% net on rent, $6k/month is only $72k a year, which is really tough even in a lower cost place like Seattle or Austin.

Almost but not quite - at high ends of salary the marginal tax rate is 38%, so $50k->$100k doesn't necessarily make you richer, it just makes Uncle Sam happier.