4 ms·

It sucks that people keep using gross salary instead of net because it really makes a difference. Lets take an example, with a yearly salary of £100,000 / $122

It sucks that people keep using gross salary instead of net because it really makes a difference. Lets take an example, with a yearly salary of £100,000 / $122,247 / €109,654... (all same amount) In the UK you would take home £66,533 / $89,412 / €73,088. (£2k less if you are in Scotland due to 1% higher tax rate) In Germany, you would take home £52,911 / €58,117 / $71,102. In Austin TX, you would take home £68,704 / €75,451 / $92,330 In California, you would take home £62,600 / €68,748 / $84,127. Location really matters for salary and living in Austin for example nets you £15793 more a year as a stark contrast to Germany but comparing Cali to UK is less impressive with the same salary. But avg Cali devs salaries are a lot higher ($131,425 [0] vs $57,930 [1]) As for the question, in my opinion the glass ceiling for software developer is just much lower in European countries and people will try to defend their European country with very valid healthcare arguments and having more rights with holidays and such. If I could I would move over to America in a heartbeat due to many factors from products being much cheaper, being the forefront of tech, culture, lower average taxes across the country and about double the average software developer salary from a UK perspective to me. Side note but... Earning £6k (net) less a year due to taxes can be the difference of £159,405 over 15 years in a index fund at 7% depositing £500 a month (6k a year). I used https://salaryaftertax.com/ https://salaryaftertax.com/ for the salaries feel free to correct me if I'm wrong in any of the locations. [0] https://www.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries/CA https://www.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries/CA [1] https://www.indeed.co.uk/career/software-engineer/salaries/ENG https://www.indeed.co.uk/career/software-engineer/salaries/E...

leipert 6y ago
The numbers for Germany seem weird, just checked for a single person without kids in Berlin and get 71k€ net. Anyhow do not forget that these amounts buy you different things as well. I can only speak for Germany, but here the „tax“ also includes health insurance and other social securities. So if unemployment, a kid or sickness happens to that single person, they don’t need as much rainy days funds. Also a lot of things are cheaper in Germany, e.g. Housing, Groceries, etc. but you mention that already.
ingvul 6y ago
> It sucks that people keep using gross salary instead of net because it really makes a difference. Gross is better because what every individual takes home after taxes varies (if you are single, married, have kids, church taxes?, solidarity taxes, etc.). > In Germany, you would take home £52,911 / €58,117 / $71,102. Based on what tax group? You see, it's not that simple. Those numbers could be true for people who are single and are living in the east of Germany... but they could be false if they are married and living in the west while paying church taxes.
- sbarzowski 6y ago
  Yes it depends on a particular situation, but the net salary is what really matters in the end. It's better to compare meaningful net salary, even with some gotchas, even as a ballpark figure. Gross salary is kinda meaningless (from employee perspective) when comparing offers in different tax regimes.
  - msh 6y ago
    But then you also have to consider what services will be provided by the state, payed with the high taxes that you have to pay out of pocket other places.

leipert 6y ago

The numbers for Germany seem weird, just checked for a single person without kids in Berlin and get 71k€ net. Anyhow do not forget that these amounts buy you different things as well. I can only speak for Germany, but here the „tax“ also includes health insurance and other social securities. So if unemployment, a kid or sickness happens to that single person, they don’t need as much rainy days funds. Also a lot of things are cheaper in Germany, e.g. Housing, Groceries, etc. but you mention that already.

ingvul 6y ago

> It sucks that people keep using gross salary instead of net because it really makes a difference. Gross is better because what every individual takes home after taxes varies (if you are single, married, have kids, church taxes?, solidarity taxes, etc.). > In Germany, you would take home £52,911 / €58,117 / $71,102. Based on what tax group? You see, it's not that simple. Those numbers could be true for people who are single and are living in the east of Germany... but they could be false if they are married and living in the west while paying church taxes.

sbarzowski 6y ago
Yes it depends on a particular situation, but the net salary is what really matters in the end. It's better to compare meaningful net salary, even with some gotchas, even as a ballpark figure. Gross salary is kinda meaningless (from employee perspective) when comparing offers in different tax regimes.
- msh 6y ago
  But then you also have to consider what services will be provided by the state, payed with the high taxes that you have to pay out of pocket other places.