I never said I was close to the norm, I said I'm quite well off now. I started with very little and got to this point in around 20 years of work.

That’s not the average but it’s far from being rich by most major cities’ standards.

For example, I live in Denver which is somewhat HCOL but nowhere close to cities like San Diego, San Francisco, or New York. The median single family home closing price in the city is $650k. Including taxes and insurance, that’s a >$5k mortgage payment at current rates.

Granted, it’s difficult for many people to afford to buy a SFH here. However, it’s in the ballpark of normal for a dual income household of young professionals.