Anecdotal evidence: I did my BSc, MSc, and PhD in Germany. None of my PhD colleagues (from my and other top3 tech universities) is still in Germany, they are a

Anecdotal evidence: I did my BSc, MSc, and PhD in Germany. None of my PhD colleagues (from my and other top3 tech universities) is still in Germany, they are all in the US, except one which is now a Prof in the UK. Most of my BSc and MSc colleagues are still in Germany, some spreaded out through europe, and few to the US. Its pretty hard to some of us actually have work-related conversations with old friends still in Germany. They always ask about the salaries in the US, and guess something "absurd" like "you are probably making more than 200k$, 250k$?", to which the only thing you can actually say is "yes" kind of in shame, because making >500k$/year is "absurd"/"beyond imagination" by German standards. We have all worked in Germany in industry before moving to the US (both internships, but also between MSc. and PhD, or briefly after the PhD), and there is just no comparison about the quality-level of the work and intellectual-growth in the US and Germany. In my German employer, our 15 ppl team was 2 PhDs, and many MSc, all from different skill levels, doing a good job, etc. In my US employer, our 50 ppl team has > 40 PhDs, couple of Stanford / MIT / Berkley / .. ex-Professors, pretty much all of them infinitely smarter than me, all giving me feedback, punching holes through my work, discovering my flaws, and teaching them to me, etc. The difference in the amount of stuff you learn per day of work, the quality standards, etc. between both employers is abysmal.