[mattkrause]

This is not a particularly useful statistic unless you include the varying levels of public services.

I just did a similar analysis for a job in the US vs one in Canada. The actual salary in the US was much higher, but including healthcare expenses closed a lot of the gap. In some cases (e.g., chronic illness or young kids), the lower Canadian salary was a better "deal" overall.

[Gibbon1]

Friend of mine moved to France from California. He said raising a kid in is way cheaper and less stressful in France.

Me I'm fully aware that I'm paying whats amounts to $900/month protection money in the form of health insurance. Protection money because really the co-payes I have to pay are close cost of actually providing medical goods and services.