Depends on your bracket I suppose. According to this, an individual $180k salary in AUS is taxed at about $58k. In USD would be about $44k. But... I pay $12k in health insurance, so they're reasonably close.

I think AUD < USD though, so spending power is probably a lot different. Don't think you can do a real thorough comparison in an HN post.

A US person making 180k is taxed more than 58k if they live in CA. 24% federal, 9% CA, plus social security and Medicare. If they live in SF then there's also a local tax.

And they still need to worry about health insurance.

That's the difference between US and other countries. I make close to that amount and I'd still have to worry if insurance will cover 3 days hospital stay.