Most of this is pretty irrelevant to the comment you're replying to. The argument is that EU companies don't pay tech talent what they're worth. School shooting

Most of this is pretty irrelevant to the comment you're replying to. The argument is that EU companies don't pay tech talent what they're worth. School shootings and bike lanes don't have anything to do with that. And I'm completely sympathetic to the argument that you're making about compensation vs. cost-of-living, but I think you're mistaken. The cost of living isn't 10x that of Europe. Taking into account taxes and government benefits that we have to pay for ourselves, it's probably more like 50-100% more expensive to live in, say, the Bay Area or NYC vs. any major metro area in Europe other than Eastern Europe, which will catch up eventually. I could be wrong though! I live in NYC, in a very nice 2 bedroom apartment in a doorman building right next to a large park. My daughter attends an expensive private school. We have excellent healthcare, travel a LOT, eat out frequently, etc. Total basic budget (not including taxes, savings, or other splurges) is ~$10k - 12k / month. Is your budget for similar lifestyle around $1k / month? In general, those of us in the US who are lucky enough to work in tech and live in HCOL areas and work for high salaries aren't irrational; the tradeoff is usually worth it, especially if you enjoy urban areas.