6 ms·

I think on average the ceiling for US is about 4x higher than UK and the avg salary is about 2x. UK seems to be about £43k ~= $59,879 [0] average and software d

I think on average the ceiling for US is about 4x higher than UK and the avg salary is about 2x. UK seems to be about £43k ~= $59,879 [0] average and software dev in America seems to be about £79k ~= $110610 [1]. Both stats from Indeed which say they are basing it on 11.6k salaries for UK and 29.8k salaries for US. Personal opinion but it matches what I expect. America is where the tech companies flourish and talent resides, as much as we would like to say healthcare is more important than double your average salary in EU I'm not convinced. I'm sure for some people it is however. As for FAANG specifically I'm unsure but do be careful as taxes in UK are a bit more harder on you compared to somewhere like Austin. You lose 40% of anything you earn above ~£50k in England. [0] https://uk.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries https://uk.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries [1] https://www.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries https://www.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries

spacedcowboy 6y ago
I work at FAANG, in California, and I moved from the UK to the US specifically because of the money. I’ve been here 16 years now, so relatively senior, but my compensation was just under a half million last year. That’s significantly more than 2x what I, personally, would expect to be getting in the UK. Regarding taxes, once you’ve taken out state, federal, property taxes and healthcare (just to keep things comparable), I get taxed more in the US than I would in the UK. Property taxes alone run at ~$16k/year.
- agent008t 6y ago
  What is your overall tax rate in the US (if you include healthcare)? If you were earning similar amounts in the UK, your overall tax rate would be ~45%.
  - spacedcowboy 6y ago
    I'll post back in a month or so, once the accountant has had the chance to go over the fine detail...
    - agent008t 6y ago
      Using some online calculators, the overall tax rate on $500k / £360k actually works out to be exactly the same. But that is before property taxes in the US, although not counting any exemptions (more difficult to compare pensions allowances that you would pay out of gross salary etc.). Also not counting total cost to employer, which could well be higher in the UK. But seems like overall it would work out to be about the same. Certainly not a huge difference in tax levels.
      - spacedcowboy 6y ago
        To be fair, I went back and looked at my spreadsheet (I put it together a few years back), and it was more focused on cost-of-living than tax. Examples: my health insurance for the family is ~$500/month, my electricity and gas bill (combined) peaked at $1200/month, property taxes are ~$1300/month, all rounded to $100. I fixed the electricity by installing solar and (later) Tesla power walls, but I can’t do much about the other two. It still works out, monetarily, for me because (and I’m not sure if I was clear on this before), I didn’t make anything like this sort of money in the uk, and didn’t really expect to.
        Frypa 6y ago
        > my electricity and gas bill (combined) peaked at $1200/mont That is insane. Why so high? are these normal rates in the US? I pay £100-£120 for electricity (no gas here).
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
- bestinterest 6y ago
  Any advice for someone looking to do the same as yourself? Looking to do a similar move to the US from UK but not sure how to even start. I wonder if FAANG type companies are the only viable options for the move over to get a VISA. As for taxes I think California is one of the special cases where taxes are similar to UK levels but of course having a massive salary boost ceiling helps offset that.
  - spacedcowboy 6y ago
    I'm not sure I have "advice". The route to getting out of where I was in the UK (my dad was a docker in Liverpool, we weren't well off) was to get to college and then start my own company. I spent 3-4 years wooing an Apple VP at trade shows twice per year, which was the entire point (the exit strategy) for what we were doing - video asset management in the film industry. This particular VP wanted "Asset management" in photos and figured that video was harder than photo, so we'd be a good fit. We were actually aiming for "Final Cut" but we got "Aperture" instead. It got to the point where he'd send me a calendar slot to appear and demo the latest work/progress on the stuff we were doing at both IBC (Amsterdam) and NAB (Vegas) every year. They eventually decided to buy the (small) company and as part of that we had to come out and work in CA, which to be honest, wasn't too big a problem :) As for how it started, myself and my co-owner took ourselves out to Amsterdam, walked up to an Apple stand at IBC and said "we've got something we'd like to show you. Can we have a slot with someone with the capability to make the decision ?" This actually worked (!) It still took a few years to persuade him, but I've since been at the company for 16 years. Sometimes you have to take the risk and tell yourself that being told "No" isn't the worst thing in the world - and I was pretty sure we'd be told 'No', but hey, we weren't.
    - bestinterest 6y ago
      Beautifully spoken. I think I'm still in the being too safe camp from just getting out of university and into a for life corporate job. I like your attitude towards 'no'. Some risks are necessary but the worst outcome being 'no' like you said is really not a bad outcome. Hey, it could even be a good outcome since it lets you start focusing effort somewhere else earlier. Any chance I could contact you as a newer grad from a similar background?
bsd44 6y ago
It's not just healthcare, there's holiday, maternity leave, tuition, public spaces, tax incentives... all sorts of benefits. Socialism is not just free healthcare, it's a mentality. You may lose your high paying job next year, but the right to being treated medically will stay forever. Did you know that American women mostly give birth at home because they can't afford to go to a hospital? How sad is that and the most ironic thing is that Americans pay the same or more taxes than we do. Just thought to share a different view, as not everyone who works in tech will chase money.
- rendang 6y ago
  > American women mostly give birth at home because they can't afford to go to a hospital Where in the world did you hear that? "roughly 99 percent of U.S. children are born" in a hospital https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/11/700829719/home-birth-can-be-appealing-but-how-safe-is-it https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/11/7008297...
- randomchars 6y ago
  I live in a mostly socialist country, that's part of the former soviet block. I always get angry when I read about the benefits of socialism, because it's 90% bullshit for everyone not in the low classes of society (and mostly bullshit for them too). > holiday If you earn significantly more, you can just take unpaid vacation. Also, quite a lot of companies voluntarily offer more paid vacation days. On the other hand, I have 20+ days off, but can't afford to go to any interesting place. > maternity leave New mothers can have up to 3 years break from work, except this means that there's rampant discrimination against women of child bearing age. > public spaces What do you mean by this? > tax incentives That 99% of population can't take advantage of. > tuition University is not free in the UK either. From what I found quickly, in-state tuition in public US universities is comparable to tuition in England. > healthcare Left my favorite to the last. Yeah, it's free. But need to get something done? - Want a hip replacement? 219 to 1300 days. - Need a radiofrequency ablation? 42 to 279 days. - Have to get your tonsil removed? 57 to 609 days. - Have a gallstone? 109 to 469 days. The numbers are not a typo, nor did I cherry pick them, just the first random numbers for the website that tracks them. So yeah, it's free, but you absolutely get what you pay for: shit. Now please, tell me, how good socialism is :)
kypro 6y ago
It's worth noting within the UK there's a huge difference between London tech salaries and non-London salaries. Outside London £35,000 is normal for a mid level dev and aroud £45,000 - £60,000 for a senior. In London mid level devs are typically paid closer to £45,000 and senior devs typically start at around £60,000 although £90,000 is quite common for a good senior dev. I know the same applies in the US where bay salaries are higher, but London tech salaries are probably quite comparable to the average US non-bay tech salary. As you say though taxes are something to factor in and cost of living too. I've personally found that living outside of London and contracting is the best way to go for a senior dev in the UK as there is less regional variance in contracting rates and they typically pay higher than salaried positions anyway (plus less tax if you find jobs outside of IR35). Another benifit of living outside of London is that you have a lower cost of living and a housing market that is affordable for individuals with decent income.

spacedcowboy 6y ago

I work at FAANG, in California, and I moved from the UK to the US specifically because of the money. I’ve been here 16 years now, so relatively senior, but my compensation was just under a half million last year. That’s significantly more than 2x what I, personally, would expect to be getting in the UK. Regarding taxes, once you’ve taken out state, federal, property taxes and healthcare (just to keep things comparable), I get taxed more in the US than I would in the UK. Property taxes alone run at ~$16k/year.

agent008t 6y ago
What is your overall tax rate in the US (if you include healthcare)? If you were earning similar amounts in the UK, your overall tax rate would be ~45%.
- spacedcowboy 6y ago
  I'll post back in a month or so, once the accountant has had the chance to go over the fine detail...
  - agent008t 6y ago
    Using some online calculators, the overall tax rate on $500k / £360k actually works out to be exactly the same. But that is before property taxes in the US, although not counting any exemptions (more difficult to compare pensions allowances that you would pay out of gross salary etc.). Also not counting total cost to employer, which could well be higher in the UK. But seems like overall it would work out to be about the same. Certainly not a huge difference in tax levels.
    - spacedcowboy 6y ago
      To be fair, I went back and looked at my spreadsheet (I put it together a few years back), and it was more focused on cost-of-living than tax. Examples: my health insurance for the family is ~$500/month, my electricity and gas bill (combined) peaked at $1200/month, property taxes are ~$1300/month, all rounded to $100. I fixed the electricity by installing solar and (later) Tesla power walls, but I can’t do much about the other two. It still works out, monetarily, for me because (and I’m not sure if I was clear on this before), I didn’t make anything like this sort of money in the uk, and didn’t really expect to.
      - Frypa 6y ago
        > my electricity and gas bill (combined) peaked at $1200/mont That is insane. Why so high? are these normal rates in the US? I pay £100-£120 for electricity (no gas here).
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
bestinterest 6y ago
Any advice for someone looking to do the same as yourself? Looking to do a similar move to the US from UK but not sure how to even start. I wonder if FAANG type companies are the only viable options for the move over to get a VISA. As for taxes I think California is one of the special cases where taxes are similar to UK levels but of course having a massive salary boost ceiling helps offset that.
- spacedcowboy 6y ago
  I'm not sure I have "advice". The route to getting out of where I was in the UK (my dad was a docker in Liverpool, we weren't well off) was to get to college and then start my own company. I spent 3-4 years wooing an Apple VP at trade shows twice per year, which was the entire point (the exit strategy) for what we were doing - video asset management in the film industry. This particular VP wanted "Asset management" in photos and figured that video was harder than photo, so we'd be a good fit. We were actually aiming for "Final Cut" but we got "Aperture" instead. It got to the point where he'd send me a calendar slot to appear and demo the latest work/progress on the stuff we were doing at both IBC (Amsterdam) and NAB (Vegas) every year. They eventually decided to buy the (small) company and as part of that we had to come out and work in CA, which to be honest, wasn't too big a problem :) As for how it started, myself and my co-owner took ourselves out to Amsterdam, walked up to an Apple stand at IBC and said "we've got something we'd like to show you. Can we have a slot with someone with the capability to make the decision ?" This actually worked (!) It still took a few years to persuade him, but I've since been at the company for 16 years. Sometimes you have to take the risk and tell yourself that being told "No" isn't the worst thing in the world - and I was pretty sure we'd be told 'No', but hey, we weren't.
  - bestinterest 6y ago
    Beautifully spoken. I think I'm still in the being too safe camp from just getting out of university and into a for life corporate job. I like your attitude towards 'no'. Some risks are necessary but the worst outcome being 'no' like you said is really not a bad outcome. Hey, it could even be a good outcome since it lets you start focusing effort somewhere else earlier. Any chance I could contact you as a newer grad from a similar background?

bsd44 6y ago

It's not just healthcare, there's holiday, maternity leave, tuition, public spaces, tax incentives... all sorts of benefits. Socialism is not just free healthcare, it's a mentality. You may lose your high paying job next year, but the right to being treated medically will stay forever. Did you know that American women mostly give birth at home because they can't afford to go to a hospital? How sad is that and the most ironic thing is that Americans pay the same or more taxes than we do. Just thought to share a different view, as not everyone who works in tech will chase money.

rendang 6y ago
> American women mostly give birth at home because they can't afford to go to a hospital Where in the world did you hear that? "roughly 99 percent of U.S. children are born" in a hospital https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/11/700829719/home-birth-can-be-appealing-but-how-safe-is-it https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/11/7008297...
randomchars 6y ago
I live in a mostly socialist country, that's part of the former soviet block. I always get angry when I read about the benefits of socialism, because it's 90% bullshit for everyone not in the low classes of society (and mostly bullshit for them too). > holiday If you earn significantly more, you can just take unpaid vacation. Also, quite a lot of companies voluntarily offer more paid vacation days. On the other hand, I have 20+ days off, but can't afford to go to any interesting place. > maternity leave New mothers can have up to 3 years break from work, except this means that there's rampant discrimination against women of child bearing age. > public spaces What do you mean by this? > tax incentives That 99% of population can't take advantage of. > tuition University is not free in the UK either. From what I found quickly, in-state tuition in public US universities is comparable to tuition in England. > healthcare Left my favorite to the last. Yeah, it's free. But need to get something done? - Want a hip replacement? 219 to 1300 days. - Need a radiofrequency ablation? 42 to 279 days. - Have to get your tonsil removed? 57 to 609 days. - Have a gallstone? 109 to 469 days. The numbers are not a typo, nor did I cherry pick them, just the first random numbers for the website that tracks them. So yeah, it's free, but you absolutely get what you pay for: shit. Now please, tell me, how good socialism is :)

kypro 6y ago

It's worth noting within the UK there's a huge difference between London tech salaries and non-London salaries. Outside London £35,000 is normal for a mid level dev and aroud £45,000 - £60,000 for a senior. In London mid level devs are typically paid closer to £45,000 and senior devs typically start at around £60,000 although £90,000 is quite common for a good senior dev. I know the same applies in the US where bay salaries are higher, but London tech salaries are probably quite comparable to the average US non-bay tech salary. As you say though taxes are something to factor in and cost of living too. I've personally found that living outside of London and contracting is the best way to go for a senior dev in the UK as there is less regional variance in contracting rates and they typically pay higher than salaried positions anyway (plus less tax if you find jobs outside of IR35). Another benifit of living outside of London is that you have a lower cost of living and a housing market that is affordable for individuals with decent income.