There's not much difference with California, as far as I can see. I used https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator#uV2HgkEBKN https://smartasset.co

There's not much difference with California, as far as I can see. I used https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator#uV2HgkEBKN https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator#uV2Hg... to compare a $100,000 salary in California to £80,000 in the UK. You get to keep approximately 70% of your pay in both cases (and that's ignoring health insurance costs). Taxes are a bit higher in the UK, especially once you get up to higher pay brackets. However, there seems to be a persistent myth on HN that the UK has much higher taxes than the US. (Perhaps it just gets lumped in with the rest of Europe in people's minds?) Another poster mentions VAT. It's worth noting that unlike with a sales tax, VAT does not apply to every purchase. But certainly it does make some things more expensive in the UK than in the US.