[alkonaut]

The example bracket was a little on the low end, and the USD/SEK rate is quite high currently so the numbers are a little skewed at the moment.

The taxes are quite high (25-35% income tax for the ranges we are discussing) and the salaries are relatively low, yes. You don't go working in Sweden to get rich, period.

It should be noted that the swedish salary includes 5 (mandatory) or 6 (commonly negotiated) weeks of paid vacation, and often comes with no expectation to work more than 40h/week. This is a cultural difference that weighs heavily in favour of the lower swedish salary. Still, the swedish tech salaries are very low compared to the US. There are other reasons: One reason the salary structure in sweden is quite flat is likely that higher education is free and grants/subsidies/loans to studens are decent. This means that getting higher education is very low risk (so in itself doesn't motivate a large reward).

Simply put: your salary in sweden is what you need to live. You don't save to afford a long unpaid holiday, you don't save (a lot) for retirement, you don't save money in case you get sick, you don't save towards you childrens education and so on and so forth.