As a PhD you might aspire to better but a position in NYC on $80k is hardly "poverty wages".

For starters, there's this little thing called "commuting" you may have heard of. Ordinary people, without PhDs, do it plenty. The NYC Pepsi offices seem to be a medium-short walk from Christopher St. PATH; you would have no trouble living in Jersey City or Hoboken on the (computes) ~$2000/mo rent that would be 'affordable' at such pay. I bet you get tax-deductible transit benefits, too, and a monthly pass is around $100.

There are people in New York working full time jobs to make $15/hr, $30k a year. That's a lot more like the "poverty wages" you name.