Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

Moved from Seattle to Munich, Germany a few years ago.

Biggest sacrifices: Pay is kind of a huge one. There are very few companies (even global ones) that pay the same in Europe as they do in the US. If I moved back to the US with my current company, I would get a ~70k/year increase in salary. Social situation is the other big one. It's hard to ever feel like you totally fit in as an expat.

Biggest gains: Quality of life is generally higher - food is better (quality, not taste, Munich's food scene kind of sucks), public transportation is better, healthcare is largely better (although again, a little weird in Germany). 6 weeks of vacation as a baseline in most places and unlimited sick leave. Generally more of an emphasis on work/life balance and taking time for yourself.

When you consider all the add ons like healthcare, living costs, exchange rate, etc, the salary differences are no longer that off. In a calculation i did once with some co worker it ended up with a. $10k difference. And considering that the US culture is consume driven, that money is gone in seconds for crap.

This varies too much by individual. For me, the difference would almost entirely built upon where you live. Things like healthcare are already included in my job.

This is assuming I get paid the same but somethings just differ a little. If I was paid market rates in Europe - I’d be probably get $200K+ less than I do now and that’s not insignificant…

Health care costs in the tech industry are not high. We might pay $100/month and have a $2000 deductible as an example plan. For someone making $100k that means 3% of their income is going to health care, maximum.

The problem with health care in the US is for middle / middle low earners.

If you’re very poor you qualify for Medicaid, but if you don’t, you might have a crappy expensive insurance plan that also has a high deductible, so you might pay a big chunk of your income to health care in a bad year. For techies, the cost is minimal. The system is extremely unequal.

At least in my experience, this isn't true where I live. Rent in Munich is basically the same as Seattle (where I used to live), if not higher. I pay something like 600 Euros/month/person for private health insurance in Germany. The fact that I'm ON private insurance is probably a mistake on my part, but that's a separate discussion.

And frankly, the $70k/year thing doesn't even count the increased bonus ranges or increased raises you get from that base salary increase.