Personally, I wouldn't live in San Francisco itself. I live in Alameda (quiet small island life ftw) and that lets me save quite a bit every month.
I left because I wanted and liked living in the middle of the city and wanted a change. I'm in Austin now and I feel like downtown Austin offers a nice compromise between expense of living and salary and tech community (like minded individuals) when compared to San Francisco. My salary is similar to what I was offered in San Francisco (almost negligible difference), but my apartment is substantially nicer than anything I had a fighting chance for in San Francisco. I bike or walk everywhere and don't need or use a car. I'm very close to feeling like I've hit the sweet spot and being content.