I hope those people living in the Midwest making 40K a year got their income bumped up to 60-70K a year so they could afford the new housing market.

That's the real rub with these studies that use national averages. It's not affordable for anyone, anywhere - unless you're blessed with a remote job paying HCOL money and don't mind moving somewhere where the nearest doctor is an hour away and the local past time is fentanyl and larceny.