Well... 19th century engineer could have a large multi-story brownstone with family and , more importantly, servants and house personnel. A butler, etc...
Today? On an engineer's salary? Ha!
I think that could be true for some engineers. I'm skeptical it was true for the majority.
Can and will happen again. I might even be a 'clever' underbutler to some misAnthropic Engineer
>servants and house personnel
Which you mostly don't need today. You may have a lawn guy, take your car to a mechanic, and use a washer/dryer to do most of your laundry.