In most places the cost of living is pretty low compared to the US, so even the admittedly lower engineer salaries in Europe can give you a very comfortable lifestyle.
Eg. in France if you make 60-80k and live anywhere other than Paris you're doing great.
For the top end of talent there's always freelancing, with a different, higher band of earning levels.
>Eg. in France if you make 60-80k and live anywhere other than Paris you're doing great.
Except that how many devs outside of Paris make 60-80k?
Most French engineers I met in Germany left France because of low wages outside of Paris which is so expensive that most of your wage gains evaporate anyway unless you have a baller job in finance or management consulting.
In my anecdotal experience 60k is typical for developers with 5 years of experience in larger cities, but often you do need to get into management to reach 80k.
I think it’s also getting better as all employers need to compete on salaries with remote offers from companies in Paris.
I’ll admit it though, if it was not for the ludicrous immigration laws I’d have probably moved to the Bay Area a long time ago.
>I’ll admit it though, if it was not for the ludicrous immigration laws I’d have probably moved to the Bay Area a long time ago.
That's kind of a catch-22 right there.
If it weren't for those "ludicrous immigration laws", tech salaries in the Bay Area would get watered down significantly while becoming even more expensive to live in, making the whole place less attractive to emigrate to over time, eventually reaching a state of equilibrium with wages probably close to EU level.
Think of it like a fancy nightclub. The more exclusive it is, the more people are willing to queue outside for hours for a chance to get in.
You don't see this happening in London where EU citizens are generally free to move until recently - still after decades of free movement you have much higher salaries there than elsewhere in EU.
That might have something to do with London being the biggest financial center in the world after NYC and less with immigration. It's much simpler to reach some easy money when there so much cash slushing around looking for the next hot thing.
Plus the CoL in London also matches the high compensation and sometimes exceeds to the point where despite the high salary it's difficult to feel well paid when you find yourself competing against people with Mc.Mansions.
Yes but it's not really easy to make 60-80k in France in the tech industry outside of Paris. I used to be in charge of part a product and lead a small team for a formely state-owned large industrial company in the suburb of Paris and was making less than 50k when I left (given the other advantages I was actually making more). I could probably have been paid four times more in the USA (admitedly I could have been paid more in France too but the job was interesting).
Eg. in France if you make 60-80k and live anywhere other than Paris you're doing great.
For the top end of talent there's always freelancing, with a different, higher band of earning levels.