More like a tech guy who pulls 150k to 200k a year.
For short term relationships
So 30-50 y/o guy, pulling $150K+ per year, working a 9-to-5, how's he going to fare for short-term relationships?
At that point, success is not an issue, unless he is going for climber chicks. He makes enough that he can present himself as successful enough, even if she'd prefer a guy making more.
e.g.: charming, attractive, put-together guy, 51, dressed in stylish, expensive-looking clothes, sipping on a drink in a high-end Silicon Valley bar. Other guys there are managers making $500K+ per year. He's a programmer making $175K, hitting on a 30 y/o woman. Unless she's a dyed-in-the-wool gold digger, she's not going to be checking his W-2s or sniffing out his job title. If he goes to some dive bar where it's not a status/money-conscious place, his income is even less relevant.
Basically: once you're making enough to live comfortably, dress well, and have a decent-looking place, when it comes to short-term relationships other factors are going to take over from there:
Namely, all your other fundamentals + game.
Of course, if the guy's other fundamentals suck, and his game sucks, and his W-2 is all he's got, then yeah... he's up shit's creek in the Silicon Valley bar with guys earning 3x as much as him... so he'd better get his other stuff in order if he isn't competitive financially.
Chase