[ShockedUnicorn]

My first tech job I made ~8k$ a year, due to being under 25 years old. My second job as a programmer was 33k$ a year, about 40% more than a cleaner in my city.

It just feels ridiculous that US salary can be 10x this, when costs of living are very similar. Apartments in my city in Sweden is about 200k$, houses 500k$.

[inoop]

I'm Dutch and moved to the US in early 2016 to work for a bigtech company. Compensation here is about 3x what I would make back home.

After working here for just six years I could move back home and buy a house outright with the money I've been able to save.

I don't need a big house or a big car, but making more money means I can coastfire in the next five years, so it's absolutely worth it to me.

[radicaldreamer]

It's a large combination of factors that affect this... first off, houses and apartments in top tier tech cities in the US are far more than 200k/500k, the labor market is more competitive, and in some states (like California), non-compete clauses are not enforceable, so switching jobs is relatively low effort/cost for the employee.

[aaronblohowiak]

Are Swedish salaries given pre-tax or post-tax? Houses with good schools near high paying tech jobs are usually greater than $2M, with taxes that will run 25k/year...

[callalex]

In the bay are an apartment where your property and safety are at risk can start at $400k, and a 3 bedroom house would be upwards of $1.5m.

[jimbokun]

> It just feels ridiculous that US salary can be 10x this

Those $350k jobs exist, but are very rare and hard to get.