I don't have a statistical run-down by country (which would be the way to do this) but if you compare the US with, say, France, where salaries tend to be 40% of

I don't have a statistical run-down by country (which would be the way to do this) but if you compare the US with, say, France, where salaries tend to be 40% of what they are in the US, here's what you have: - Free health care (for Engineering positions, usually with a company-provided complement meaning you never have to pay for anything) - 5 weeks paid vacation/year + 5-10 paid off-days/year (may be more at large companies, up to 9 weeks vacation + 10 days off) - A nominal pension (unlike the health care part, this is not something you should be counting on, you need to save by yourself) - Unemployment insurance (typically 2 years with 60-80% of your former salary, which is ideal to start a company) - Free schooling for your kids up to & including High School (there are private institutions but they're typically worse than good public schools) - Generally cheap higher-ed. The top Eng., law, medicine schools & colleges are publicly-run & free, while the top business schools will typically relieve you of 10K/year On the flipside, you pay significant taxes on the announced salary. For a 45K€ position (developer with 1year/exp typically) you'll effectively receive ~34K€ from your employer, while the rest goes to the state, and you'll have to pay ~3K€ income tax on that. (Of note is that to get you to that 45K number, your employer already pays ~25K to the state on their side of things). It varies between countries (I believe folks in the UK are less taxed but have more costly education for their kids for example). I think in general, you're better off in the US or UK as long as you're single, or if you have a really senior position, and are better off in France/Germany with a family & an entry-level/mid-level position. I hope this gives you a better idea