The one nice thing about German taxes is that, although complicated, they make it very easy for you to know how much you owe. They essentially obfuscate the complexity from the citizens.

Also, consider what you are getting for your German taxes, and it may very well be worth it. If only the MUNI in San Francisco ran like the U-Bahn. You really have no reason to own a car in Germany.

Also note, as a Software Engineer living in California, your income tax (State and Federal) is probably close to 40%.

> You really have no reason to own a car in Germany.

If (and only if) you're living in a city. A lot of people live in the villages surrounding a city and commute into the city center by car.

Berlin might be an exception here because Berlin is just so fucking huge that you cannot commute into the city center from outside the city within reasonable time.

Why do German automakers thrive there, then? Always found it odd that some of the most sophisticated cars in the world are made in a country where supposedly no one has any use for them.

Is it just cities vs. small towns?

Yes, 90% Of Germans live in small- to medium-size cities (I.e., not in Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, and Munich). Berlin in particular has exceptional public transport.

Don't forget the Ruhr area on your list which has another 8% of people. I would say you could live without a car in most major cities (these are the 79 with more than 100k inhabitants). About a third of Germans live there. When it gets smaller than this relying on public transport is getting more and more inconvenient. The third that lives in small towns or rural areas definitely needs a car — or rather two — per household.