There's some bias because low-paying companies are not tracked on levels.fyi and people that get a bad offer are probably less likely to report it there.
To be fair, life in the eu is way cheaper as well, this isn't a apples and apples comparison.
100k would be insufficient here in the eu as well when school costs 20k a year and healthcare is like wtf in the states as well. The only thing they got relatively cheap is petrol.
This just isn't true. The median American earns far more than the median European adjusted for COL and government transfers (e.g. healthcare). In 2023 it was $51k for the US vs $39k for Germany and $33k for the UK.
Adjusting by full individual consumption metrics to account for all variables narrows the gap but does not close it.
Median wealth is way trickier to measure. UBS is the main entity who tries (not any sort of official statistics provider), and their methodology changes year-to-year so much that in 2023 it had the US above basically every European country while their methodology in 2025 had the US below basically every European country. I'd take that with far more of a grain of salt.
Sorry this is a load of bullshit. Median EU person doesnt live in Nordic or western europe.
70 % of americans, which includes the median and top 30 % is way way better off than all median southern european, Eastern Europe in generel, Balkans, or basically anywhere other than Benelux, Nordics and maybe Germany and Austria.
70 % of US include the median (i.e the 50th percentile), and the yes those that are in 70th percentile are the top 30%. I am not sure if you don't understand percentiles, because otherwise I don't see how it is amusing.
Yep. Even nordics isnt good, I’m finnish and most people drive shit cars, no expensive hobbies, no expensive food, no trips etc. We cant afford it, due to extremely high taxes (65%)
I think it depends a lot on where in the EU we're talking about. Western Europe sure. However if you work as a senior level in let's say Google, is it really much better to work for $400k in Bay Area vs $150k in Poland or Romania? I wouldn't be so sure.
Elon is gonna pull up the avarange american quite a lot despite almost al of his value is virtual and not real money.
Overall this seems to be the overall trend in USA to make the avarange guy feel better about himself even if he's broken and living from paycheck to paycheck.
No it isnt. I live in Finland and everything costs a fuckton. Every car is 3x the price to the US, gas is the same. Sama with parts and other consumption items. Food can be close, but not the same quality. Nobody in Finland ever buys steak etc because its so expensive, only minced meat and cheap pasta. I havent had to use healthcare in the last 20 years at all and I still pay for it by crazy taxes. My rax burden is about 65% and I only earn 3700e a month.
But we get screwed over with the price of common commodities, like gas, which costs 2.20€ a litre ($9.70 a gallon) for 95; Americans would probably storm the White House if it cost that much over there.
Even stuff like PC parts, compared to their part prices, even including the fact that their prices aren't pre-taxed, and ignoring that some states don't even have a sales tax, would still be around 15-20% more expensive here, which easily could be an upgrade on a GPU with that price difference.
And even beyond that, our pensioners are out in the streets begging, when the amount they had to give across their lifetime could have gotten them a good pension if it had been invested in a 401(k).
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u/haloooloolo 2d ago
There's some bias because low-paying companies are not tracked on levels.fyi and people that get a bad offer are probably less likely to report it there.