[moo360]

While I agree they are lower, not much lower, but lower. That's simply because of the market rate. I have some experience hiring devs in London and NYC so can only really comment on those two cities.

You see approx ~20% reduction in market rate salary for a given full-stack position in London vs NYC. However there are factors that the simple NET salary comparison doesn't take into account. Do these factors negate the difference? No, not entirely - but they do reduce that percentage down quite significantly. The major one, which will be of no surprise, is healthcare.

The addition of free healthcare for your family is unlikely to be equal in value directly to the entire 20% salary difference. However, often the fact is it might be worth it anyway just to not have to deal with that, often stressful and extremely difficult to budget for, expense.

These aren't the only QoL differences between the two cities, others are often rather personal/bespoke to the candidate.

The point being comparing net salary between two completely different countries is often not even close to the full picture.

[EduardoBautista]

Health insurance is commonly provided by employers if you are a software engineer.