Just out of curiosity, how much do you pay in taxes? If you're a sillicon valley engineer on the higher end, you end up paying 30-40% federal + 10% state and local taxes.
Healthcare (obligatory but subsidized for lower incomes) will cost you an additional 95 euro/month (with an "own risk" of about 375 euros). I always thought the entire US paid a lot less taxes to be honest...
Thankfully as a valley engineer your healthcare is mostly paid for by your company.
The maximum federal tax rate is 40%, with California's rate being something like 10%. Most people don't pay the high end. Rich people generally have tax accountants and attorneys that are able to navigate the overly complex US tax system to find every loop hole. The majority of taxes are paid for by the upper middle class.
schijf 1 € 0 t/m € 19.922: 36,55%
schijf 2 € 19.923 t/m € 33.715: 40,15%
schijf 3 € 33.716 t/m € 66.421: 40,15%
schijf 4 € 66.422 or more: 52,00%