I've rejected full-time job offers out on the west coast just because I can't imagine they actually pay enough to make it worth it... But DO they??

No.

I don't know what the figure is, but the papers quote something like "the income you need to purchase a median priced home" and also "percentage of population that can purchase a median priced home". In both cases only the minority can buy-in. If you are already in, great. If not, then it's very hard. Even with low mortgage rates and deductible interest. The papers out here are full of situations where multiple families or siblings share a home. So even if you own a home, your neighbour has probably 10 people in the house. Imagine vast suburbs with Manhattan style parking problems.

But having said that, there are a lot of friggin rich people out here in very big homes and very expensive cars. I'm talking cars that hundreds of kilobucks. Maserati, Bently, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lotus, McLaren, Lamborghini. And lots of gardeners driving beaters that work for $5/hr living in squalor with 10 similar individuals.