That isn't it; all the things you mentioned are paid through very heavy taxation, and all numbers we've been discussing are gross salary.

You could probably attribute a 14% difference through the "employer tax" which the US doesn't have (which is taken out of your paycheck before the gross salary number is cited), and arguably another 4% due to mandatory retirement savings. But it doesn't make up for it when the difference is 50%-75%.

Yeah, but when you retire in Norway, you will be taken care of. Not so in the US, so you need to save for that from that extra 50%.