[mjn]

Whether 1800 USD/month for a one-bd apartment is expensive might depend on where you're coming from. That's not out of line with the going rates in many other major cities (SF, NYC, London, Paris), and might even be cheaper, if that's for a nice & centrally located apartment. But it's about 25% more expensive than Copenhagen, and 3x Berlin.

One could also live in non-Stockholm parts of Sweden, like Göteborg or Malmö, both of which have significant tech industries and lower housing costs.

[subsystem]

Sweden just isn't made for a high income, high spending scenario. For instance most of the benefits (unemployment, sickness, parental etc.) have a cap. Taxes have also become more progressive in recent years.

[mjn]

Yeah, it depends on your occupation to some extent. If you're a software engineer, the rent:income ratio in NYC might be better: more expensive apartment, but you can pull down huge piles of money programming for a finance company. But if you work in a large range of regular jobs, Scandinavia is a lot more affordable. The rent:income ratio in NYC if you're working at a grocery store is terrible, while it's somewhat better in Stockholm or Copenhagen. People who work hourly-waged jobs can own apartments in Copenhagen and live middle-class lives, which is virtually impossible in SF, NYC, or most other major cities.

Compressed salaries basically, so the high end is lower and the low end is higher. I generally like that, since it means I can have friends in different occupations without huge socioeconomic gaps between us. But it means the income at the high end doesn't buy the same lifestyle. It's nonetheless enough to buy a good lifestyle, imo: as someone around the 80th percentile in Copenhagen incomes I live "somewhat better" than the median income earner, but the median is already living a pretty decent lifestyle.