I don&#x27;t know where you have those numbers from, but they are very inaccurate. The average household income in Berlin in 2012 was 1650€ net per month [1], so that would be about 20k per year. According to what you wrote, Berlin streets should be essentially free from cars, but I can assure you that this is not the case. 
Let me give you some real numbers. I am married and have a small child. I earn 55k gross, which is ~38k after taxes. My wife earns significantly less, providing another 7k per year. I don&#x27;t know right now how much she earns before taxes, but our gross income combined is well below 80k. So we have about 45k per year and we <i>easily</i> get by. We have a nice flat, eat out several times a week, take ~3 vacations a year, are paying into a private pension plan, and are still saving money. Granted, we don&#x27;t own a car, but we could if we wanted.
I have no idea if the reported 80k are accurate, but I would be very surprised, as it would be far above the average income for software developers in Berlin (and I think most of their employees are devs).<p>[1] bit.ly&#x2F;1Tb8tMz, best I could find right now