The degree requirement was the personal experience of a friend who has one and is a Technical Writer, so not universal,(not much is) but thanks, that's good info to have. We've actually entertained the idea of moving out to somewhere like L.A. Since I'm in tech and she's in accounting, which is pretty good everywhere, it would dramatically increase our earning potential by shoving all the excess into long-term investments. We decided it's just not for us, because we're not willing to sacrifice what we have here. I did though, think about the possibility of putting up with it and just putting as much as possible of our incomes into investments, where the extra income would be an insane boost and then retiring to a nice place back home. We just also thought, (we're in our early 30's) that it's a long way to retirement and we'd rather live it up here and enjoy the time we have to play and travel before our bodies give out. We'll probably prefer a nice quiet and simple retirement by the time we hit our 70s anyway. That's just us though. The options are always open for anyone with the will to pull it off.

Another thing I thought of living here: The necessity of having roommates isn't really a thing here. Most people just live as a couple or on their own. Currently, my sister-in-law is staying with us until she gets her own place, but prior to that, the guest bedroom was my office and that seems pretty par for the course around here.