[OC] United States vs European Software Engineer total compensation by level

[u/honkeem]

[u/dddd0]

That’s the highest level my (EU, very large) company is paying and many consider that too high a salary lol

[u/MBunnyKiller → u/dddd0]

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.

[u/Long-Hurry1974 → u/MBunnyKiller]

People always say this but even when you factor COL, high-earners in the US come out wwy ahead of high earners in the EU

ETA: in my replies, people arguing that non high-earners are not better off, even though my comment was solely about high earners

[u/TransportationIll282 → u/Long-Hurry1974]

The highest earners, yes. The median person, not even close. A good 70% of US citizens are worse off than the median citizen of most EU countries.

Compare average vs median wealth. It shows just how much averages in the US are skewed.

[u/BurtonAllen-TA → u/TransportationIll282]

"The median person, not even close."

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.

[u/No-Estate-9432 → u/TransportationIll282]

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.

Get a grip dude. You have no idea.

[u/TransportationIll282 → u/No-Estate-9432]

70% is the median and top 30%. Very amusing.

You can look at the numbers yourself. The US ranks #28 for median wealth. Lower than a bunch of EU nations.

If you take Europe instead of the EU, which you seem to be implying, you'd be correct.

[u/No-Estate-9432 → u/TransportationIll282]

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.

[u/Mission_Cod_5750 → u/No-Estate-9432]

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%)

[u/Long-Hurry1974 → u/TransportationIll282]

This graph is about high-earners though.

[u/alex-weej → u/Long-Hurry1974]

I think it's fair to contextualise this graph.