Income raises your ceiling, but savings rate controls momentum. A household keeping 40% of take-home pay often reaches financial independence faster than one earning more but saving only 10%.
That is because FIRE depends on the gap between what you earn and what you spend. The larger that gap, the more capital you can invest and the lower your future spending target may be.
This is also why city-level cost of living matters so much. Cutting recurring expenses by moving, downsizing, or changing habits can improve both sides of the equation at once.
The goal is not deprivation. It is building a durable monthly surplus that compounds for years.