These are mostly cities in large metro areas where the lower-middle and middle-middle class is priced out of living in the central areas, causing them to be excluded from income percentiles and such when examining cities-proper
Does median income in a city == middle-class? I think that would be pretty skewed in cities with a lot of people commuting in to work because they can't afford to live near their job.
There is a good reason young people go into so much debt for degrees in spite of the insistence by pundits of college being a bubble: the pay bump is worth it, and not just tech jobs. VHCOL areas also have the highest paying jobs, and rapid home appreciation is another tailwind too. Many people who bought homes in Bay Area even as recently as before Covid are sitting on large gains.
> Available income estimates exclude taxes owed on leftover income, as investing in pretax retirement accounts can significantly impact tax amounts.<p>lol. Makes San Jose a ridiculous #1 for this list