Setting aside everything else... I mean I guess it depends where you live but $1000+ a month is not enough for one person in most areas of the US. That's 1k before
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too (more creators should use
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anyway). If you work a W2 (as in an employee) job at $15/hr at 40 hours per week, you're making $2400 a month, before taxes, social security, etc. I mean the new federal minimum wage is $10.50/hr so at 40 hours per week it's $1680 before taxes, so if you're solely relying on that $1000+ a month you're working below federal minimum wage.
And on top of that, working on patreon donations means you're self-employed, so you're paying even more taxes (On the flip side if you're creative with writing off expenses you can reduce your tax burden but in my experience as working as an online contractor before the IRS changed the rules on who an employee is... you have to really dig for finding enough expenses except for maybe the first year if you buy new, dedicated equipment).
Now if you're saying $1000+ a month is enough as a part time thing? Maybe. It depends on their employment situation.
This is all to say: It's fine to be very suspicious of creators on here racking up large Patreon amounts, and stringing donators along with longer and longer update cycles and false promises (or fake stories about car crashes that didn't happen... looking at you Waifu Academy), but if a creator is not making at least minimum wage (after Patreon's cut and self-employment taxes) for their area working on it full time, then they're not really making it. Some people can make it work because they're stay-at-home spouses or people living in their parents basement, but they could also be flipping burgers for more money.
I suppose there's also considering creators outside the US, but that's a whole 'nother level of complexity with considering what a living wage is.