I don't know the income tax in Germany/Berlin, but in Sweden/Stockholm it's roughly 30% for (upper) middle-class folks. VAT is quite high and food in general is a lot more expensive than in Berlin.
> and food in general is a lot more expensive than in Berlin.
Interesting. I had the impression food in supermarkets wasn't __that__ expensive compared to Berlin. Restaurants were noticeably more expensive. For what it's worth, I thought the food quality in Stockholm was a lot better than in Germany.
> food in supermarkets wasn't __that__ expensive compared to Berlin.
From a recent comparison Stockholm is more expensive, but cost of living has more than that, using numbeo [0] I see that utilities and childcare are significantly more expensive in Berlin and this link [1] I can also see that health care is more expensive in Berlin.
A month public transport ticket costs almost the same (890 SEK vs 81 Euro) and I think the the Stockholm one covers more distance.
As for market size I don't know how big the difference is since I guess there are simply more people in Berlin to compensate for the increased number of companies. From personal and friend's experience I have never seen any problem finding work during the last years.