Wages in the US are higher but for some reason I don't see a higher standard of living; there must be other factors at play.
History:
Java dev - large consultancy
Java dev - small consultancy
Tech lead - contractor
Senior Architect - Massive software vendor (not FAANG)
Principal Architect - Massive software vendor (not FAANG)
Principal Architect - (current) medium sized consulting firm
This contributes to brain drain - if you are pretty good developer, you aren't really incentived to move to US. If you are one of the best, in US you can earn many times more.
I've worked with (and still work with) many Americans, let me give you an idea.
I get paid 174,000 USD per year
I take 6 weeks off (vacation) per year to sail in the Mediterranean and to SKI in the French and Swiss alps. This is fully paid and it would be highly abnormal if I did not take this time off.
My wife was paid her full salary for 6 months to have a baby. The government would have mandated a minimum payment term if that did not happen.
I never have to worry about healthcare, it's just there and it's available all the time regardless of employment
I never worry about being fired without strong cause, I am protected by strong laws
None of my children have ever participated in an 'active shooter drill'
I went to a top tier University and only paid 3000 GBP per year. The government gave me thousands of pounds without expecting repayment. The government gave me thousands of pounds and said they will write it off if I can't pay it back before 25 years and they won't ask for a single penny if I earn below a certain amount. When they did start taking repayments, it was a small amount extra on top of my income tax. The interest rate is also very low to the point of it not really mattering.
A local company which predominantly only competes in the European hiring pool will never give a wage higher than locally required.
