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by CalRobert1 hours ago |
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upvoteby mancerayder1 hours ago|
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300k in SF or NYC is FAR from early retirement unless you live 'frugally' - Manhattan average rents are 5K for 1 bed. You pay city, state and federal tax. Food and alcohol are 30-50 percent higher than Paris. And no one talks about property taxes.

In the US, local and federal taxes plus property taxes are easily 50-60 percent of your income.

Inflation runs higher in NYC than the rest of the country, as well.

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upvoteby cj1 hours ago|
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$300k is also on the high end. Most devs have a very difficult time getting hired at companies that pay that much.

$300k is probably in the top 10-15% for software engineers if I had the guess. And I assume the top 10-15% in Paris is substantially more than 80k?

Edit: Okay, I guess $300k is near the median in SF if you’re including stock options. (Media base salary in SF is 150-160k)

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upvoteby root_axis24 minutes ago|
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It's definitely on the high end. Besides the fact that most startup equity ends up being worthless, you can't wait on a four year cliff to pay your rent.
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upvoteby sdthjbvuiiijbb41 minutes ago|
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>And I assume the top 10-15% in Paris is substantially more than 80k?

I don't think that's a good assumption. 80k is rather high for Paris. That's a Google salary at their small office there (or it was when I checked a few years ago). I think the OP's comparison was pretty reasonable.

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upvoteby aborsy57 minutes ago|
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Top graduates in France make 40-50k. This is the reality I have seen. Salaries are often tabulated with limited range.
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upvoteby joe_mamba6 minutes ago|
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>$300k is also on the high end.

Of course, But 80k is on the high-end for Paris as well. And most companies in France, even in tech, except maybe the few international ones like FANGS or Datadog, explicitly want French speaking workers, whereas English is enough for most US jobs.

I'm EU citizen and looked towards working in France even for the lower wages, but the French language mandates are really off putting. I'm willing to learn the language, but I'd need at least 2-3 years.

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upvoteby kevin_thibedeau1 hours ago|
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Most American's don't have that opportunity either or don't want to make the sacrifice of living in soul crushing circumstances.
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upvoteby expedition3235 minutes ago|
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Nobody in my European country needs to work at 70.

But there are VERY few countries on this planet that actually saved for retirement.

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