According to a friend I know who lives in the tri-state area that is what happens to them, but they max out 401K, have insurance etc.

But that's not $140->$70 after tax, that's $140k->$70k after tossing $24k into retirement investment savings, another $5k into healthcare savings, possibly another $1,500 towards healthcare premiums (huge amount of variability there), and then finally taxes.

"lives in the tri-state area"

Do you know how many of those are in the US?

Well there's 50 states so 504948 is just 117,600.

I bet it's just outside of Springfield.

Which Springfield? :-)

> but they max out 401K

So then it’s not what happens to them is it?

Don't forget real estate tax and sales tax. In some places, real estate tax is about 20-30% of the rental cost. Sales tax is as high as 10% in some places.