Tuition is a problem and I can’t speak to the prevalent attitude there on the East Coast but tuitions here in LA are very high. So if you have 4 kids in school and earn the same $175,000 that was referred to by SJSinNYC as the threshold in Teaneck, most regular folks in LA couldn’t afford to send their kids to Yeshiva.
Consider the following: schools here are asking from $18,000 each = $72,000 just for tuition. Rents run in the $3000/mo range for a decent size place for a family of six, another $36,000 for the year. If you choose to buy in any neighborhood in LA, the “yeshivish” part of town (Hancock Park/Fairfax), the houses run $1,000,000 (give or take $100,000), the more modern part (Pico) about the same, a mix of the two (the Valley) you can buy a smaller house starting in the $600,000 range, property taxes run 1.25%(?) of the purchase price or current market value. Add in food, clothing, moderate car payment, etc. take away the taxes, I’m not so sure it is so affordable at full tuition. Mind you, many of the schools are charging over $20,000, you can make the changes in the above numbers accordingly.
So if you are making $100,000 a year and have 4 kids, you’re probably asking for a scholarship and expecting one.