That is a good point.
I think these COL calculators are factoring in a lot of things that aren’t necessarily relevant to my personal situation. I’m young and unattached, I dont require very much space to live comfortably, I would probably ditch my car if I moved, and my expenses are generally pretty low. They seem to be factoring in the price of real estate (I won’t be buying any property) and other things. I just entered my salary and location into them and they spit back a $100,000/yr + salary expectation. I was as shocked as anyone but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t insane. I think the severe economic depression in my area combined with the very-high COL in NYC created that huge number jump that isn’t indicative of reality.
I’m researching things like craigslist and NYC related message boars to try to come up with a more accurate and realistic budget for a 25 year old guy who just wants to live reasonably in Brooklyn or Queens and take the train to SoHo every day.