Housing in Bend is way more expensive than our median take home pay, which is one reason why the housing crisis is felt so acutely here. Prices are starting to get high enough that businesses are having trouble attracting people. Perhaps some of those businesses can afford to pay more, but not everything operates at high margins.
The StartupBend.com web site does a great job covering local entrepreneurs, startups and tech in town, all things that can contribute to higher paying, rewarding jobs in Bend, which, as economist Enrico Morretti points out in his book The New Geography of Jobs can have a lot of positive effects for the economy beyond the people hired and companies hiring them. With the caveat that we need to do more to ensure that high paying jobs don’t simply drive up housing prices as has happened in places like Boulder, Colorado or the California Bay Area.
They were kind enough to add a guest post regarding housing and business: https://startupbend.com/articles/guest-post-how-the-yimby-movement-aims-to-tackle-affordable-housing-and-why-tech-startups-should-pay-attention/
Bend YIMBY 
Do you have any specific anecdotes or data to support this yet?
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Hi – median income vs average wage is a statistic from a presentation to city council that was passed along to me. Median house price is available in a lot of places. I think the disparity between wages and income is due in part to people with other sources of income (investments and so on).
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