3 ms·

I agree completely. This is what I always tell my family in Europe: Sure, my salary on the US West Coast may be high, but the lifestyle this affords me (while b

by verst 3y ago

I agree completely. This is what I always tell my family in Europe: Sure, my salary on the US West Coast may be high, but the lifestyle this affords me (while being reasonably future oriented in preparing for retirement, family planning etc) is almost certainly worse. (Not to mention cultural differences in attitudes towards work.) You can't assess salaries as someone who would temporarily work somewhere else and then export that money back to their home country. You have to view the salaries in the context of someone who will spend their life there.

ghaff 3y ago
It's also just very situation-dependent. I live in at least the periphery of a HCoL East Coast urban area but I have a paid-off house, don't have kid-related expenses, and don't eat out a lot (especially expensively) in the local area. I do travel a fair bit but those costs would be similar no matter where I lived. So, for me, I don't really live in an HCoL area to the same degree as if I were renting in the city and going out on the town all the time or were paying for childcare.