[xutopia]

I'm not sure the gap is that big when you factor in children and housing.

I have two kids. I get offers between 100k/160k CAD in Montreal. Daycare costs me about 800$ per month for each children and I get kick backs from the governement to bring that down to roughly 189$CAD/month. In San Francisco the average is 1900$USD per child.

Then factor in I live in a 265K CAD house, 40 minutes bus ride to city center. I have 3 bedrooms, one office, a huge kitchen, a nice patio, garden etc... In San Francisco the median house price is 1,194,300$ USD.

I could be making 180kUSD and I wouldn't be saving any more money at the end of every month with housing and daycare alone.

Also... I might pay a good deal of taxes but I have great healthcare.

[chrshawkes]

The USA is not defined by Silicon Valley. I make 120k in Richmond, Virginia and another 30k online. Your figures are nowhere near accurate for most American cities.