I'm also a dev in Europe but this is ridiculous. You ain't going to die on the street of illness if you work at FAANG.

Driving in Bay Area feels positively relaxed to many places in Europe too. Hell, even LA is a lot nicer place to drive than Rome.

True, I was definitely exaggerating, but the horror stories I hear from my american friends still make very skeptical that moving to the US for what would probably be a junior position at FAANG would be worth it in any way. Just the story of a friend of mine getting some basic dental surgery in the US makes me not even consider moving there.

At a FAANG you'd have healthcare and dental insurance plans co-sponsored by the employer, in addition to pretty humongous compensation that would easily cover your $50 or so dental insurance contribution.

Don't get me wrong there's plenty of folks who struggle in America, but white-collar employees of the top five tech megacorps ain't them.

Even if you’re not at FAANG, you’re going to get pretty good care for very little cost at any funded startup. Almost every place I’ve worked I’ve never had to pay insurance premiums and almost always had obscenely low copays for visits and operations. (Visit a doctor - $10, surgery - $35... etc.. very cheap)

Being a software engineer in the valley definitely means you’ll likely have a pretty good healthcare situation that might be better than the free version you get in other countries...

>prospect of owning an apartment is more than a fantasy

which european country would that be? owning property is out of reach for most europeans because the high tax and social burden make it pretty much impossible to save up for a house

Taxes are hardly the issue, it's the fact that in high-density and high-income areas, there simply isn't enough supply for the demand.

I'm from Slovenia and, ignoring the capital, which has a huge housing shortage (not much room for the city to expand), it's still quite common for people to own apartments. It's definitely decreasing, like everywhere in the world, but not unheard of. I also never said anything about a house - that's a completely different story.

From what I've heard, normal apartments basically don't exist in big tech centres in the US. You either get an expensive moldy hole in the wall or a huge new development that even a C-level will have a hard time getting a loan for.

Again, all of this is just from my perspective with the parameters that I care about. I know it works for many people, but the US really just isn't for me.

>Taxes are hardly the issue

When your marginal tax rate rises to roughly 40% once you earn 50k Euros I'd say it is an issue.

And that's only direct taxation.