In 3 out of the 4 jobs I've had in America, I have paid zero premium for health insurance (100% paid by employer), and had either 4 or 5 weeks of vacation (not

In 3 out of the 4 jobs I've had in America, I have paid zero premium for health insurance (100% paid by employer), and had either 4 or 5 weeks of vacation (not including between 9 and 12 company holidays too). Even with the exchange rate, my base salary was more than triple the $50k euros amount, and I have < 4 years of experience. I am a specialist in my area which makes my case a bit harder to compare, but still, the offer of provided healthcare and 4 weeks vacation doesn't make foreign jobs more attractive to me. I've had that in almost every American job I've had and also was paid a wage that was high enough to comfortably exceed local cost of living. In fact, I generally find that when an employer has to start nervously listing side perks like medical coverage or vacation as apologetic offerings to excuse an obviously poor salary relative to cost of living, it's a huge red flag that they know they are not equipped to recruit exceptional people. In all my comments I am already talking about how much money you have left after general cost of living expenses. Even though such costs are lower in Berlin than in many major US cities, the salaries in Berlin are even lower at a disproportional level. Unless you adopt a more ascetic lifestyle, your lower salary in Berlin will not stretch as far despite the lower costs. The costs, while lower, aren't low enough.