They may sound low, but compared to the USA, Germany has public health care, free education (up to graduate level), a long, paid parental leave and a lot of other social benefits. This really sums up if you have to pay for all these things yourself.
You are paying for those things, but it's being paid indirectly. Paying 40% or more of your gross income for health care, social security and taxes is another thing that Americans would probably find to be high.
Oh really? And you really pay less in Federal taxes + California State taxes + Medicare + Social Security tax + VPDI etc etc? For me that was 40%+ as well...
This. I'm always surprised how people think that Europe is going to kill them with taxes in comparison to the States. If I add up all the taxes that you mention for any high-tax US state the sum is going to be right up there pushing 40%, maybe more. The difference is that as far as I can see the Germans, like Canadians, are getting some their tax money back in the form of social services and social protections. Here we just feed it to the military-industrial complex all while carrying on about how "the country is broke".