A new report says anyone living in San Francisco, Oakland or Berkeley is now living in the most expensive metro area in America. It's one of the few places in America where a six-figure salary is considered "low-income."

The tech industry has attracted legions of highly-paid workers to the area, but even those hefty salaries have trouble keeping up. Home prices aren't the only thing skyrocketing -- transportation, utilities and food costs are going up too.

Jonathan Osorio of Pittsburg is the WiFi man. His job is to set up the internet in brand new apartment buildings like the ones popping up along Broadway in Oakland.

"We joke about (and) we wonder what do these people do for a living to where they're able to afford this," Osorio said.

Osorio knows the struggle well because just recently his family of four had to downsize to save on rent.

"The area that we can actually afford is shrinking and getting pushed farther and farther out of the Bay Area," Osorio said.

A new report out by financial news and opinion company, 24/7 Wall Street, says families like the Osorios have to fork over more than $11,000 a month on typical living expenses. For a single person like Richmond-resident Marla Cox, "it's still hard to make it alone."

The report says those people average spending more than $5,000 a month on living expenses. Cox said she couldn't afford to live in Oakland anymore after her adult kids moved out of the apartment.

"My daughter moved to Georgia that's how much she wanted to make it on her own," Cox said. "She couldn't do it here."

The idea of moving to a cheaper state comes up a lot for the Osorio family.

"That's definitely been a thought. Been a conversation at the dinner table at night when the kids go to bed," Osorio said.

This summer, the city of Oakland received $30 million in state funding to create permanent affordable housing for low-income families. That money will help fund six development projects, which will be completed by 2022.