I'm not making this stuff up.
Here are the AVERAGE incomes for CA broken down by area. Keep in mind that this is AVERAGE - if you're dealing with 19-25 age range, you're dealing with people on the lower end of this scale.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Califor..._capita_income
Median househould income for SF: $55k (3rd on the list.)
I belive that you and your buds were fortunate to make $75k+ right out of college/uni, but I'll also stand by my post that if you told the typical (even A-list) college grad that they can look forward to $75k/yr as a green 22 year old right out of college, you're sadly mistaken.
Sure, it worked for you, but that is a far cry from saying that the typical 19-25 year old can pull in that much right off the bat. Heck, at that scale you're making more than half the folks who even posted in this thread who are twice your age and have double your experience in what they do.
(I do agree that $40k is rock-bottom minimum at SF/LA but I know a lot of folks who are making less than that - with a lot of parental and credit card help.)