Part of the problem is, I think, is a difference in culture.  For most
Americans raised in small towns or big cities comfortable means a house
with three or four bedrooms, a yard, fairly nice car and the like and a
reasonable commute to work.  That, would be very difficult to do in New
York  on most museum salaries. But they is not a typical New York
lifestyle or for that matter typical in most of the rest of the world.