$30/hour is about $60K/year.

That's an absolutely livable wage in NYC. You might need a roommate, but it's easily achievable. I lived there for almost a decade (recently), but since you shouldn't trust random people on the internet, here's the MIT living wage calculator:

• Manhattan: https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/36061
• Brooklyn: https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/36047
• Bronx: https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/36005
• Staten Island: https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/36085
• Queens: https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/36081

As a single adult with no kids, you're just barely under the "living" wage in most of those, but well above "poverty" in all of them. In any borough, with a roommate, you're cruising comfortably (see the "2 Adults (Both Working): 0 Children" column). In the Bronx, as a single adult with no kids, $30 is above the living wage mark.

It's also worth noting, people may live outside the city, but take a train or subway in for work. Living just outside the city brings costs down quite a bit.