Why do you think that? I know many people working at a FAANG both in SF and LA, and most of them own some sort of home. (Some are condos or townhomes because that’s the lifestyle they prefer - but many are single family homes.) They’re in decent places, too, not 100 miles away or “the bad part of town”. It took a few years of savings, and some of them are dual income, which helps, but between stock that’s been on a rocket ship for the last 20 years and a decently high salary, they do just fine. If you’re not vested yet, you might not have hit the point where things start to take off. It can be pretty dramatic what those RSUs add up to if you aren’t constantly watching their value.