Compared to not having insurance, where you have to pay for everything.

Stale bread is better than no bread at all

Most desk jobs in the US are salaried. Salaries are quoted typically in annual terms, although payroll is processed typically fortnightly (meaning salary payments are transferred into your account every two weeks, usually on Thursday or Wednesday).

The US Bureau of Labour Statistics collects salary data across hundreds of job descriptions and reports this information regularly. Here are some median annual salaries (along with the monthly equivalent in euros) for various corporate jobs:

• Human Resources Specialists: $75,940 (€5,500 monthly)
• Buyers and Purchasing Agents: $77,710 (€5,630 monthly)
• Budget Analysts: $91,640 (€6,640 monthly)
• Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists: $78,760 (€5,710)
• Paralegals and Legal Assistants: $62,890 (€4,560)
• Lawyers: $159,670 (€11,580)
• Securities, Commodities, and Financial Service Sales Agents: $78,660 (€5,700)
• Real Estate Brokers: $73,220 (€5,810)
• Billing and Posting Clerks: $48,500 (€3,520)
• Secretaries and Administrative Assistants: $47,540 (€3,450)
• Computer Systems Analysts: $105,850 (€7,670)
• Network and Computer Systems Administrator: $99,130 (€7,190)
• Software Developers: $135,980 (€9,860)

Some notes before comparing salaries:

• Office workers work 40 hours per week, and lunch breaks are typically 1 hour. The most common working schedule is 09:00 to 17:00 with a 1 hour lunch break. Two weeks paid holiday is the minimum for most office workers, but three to four weeks is more common. Extra paid holiday is considered a bonus for loyalty. People who have worked for the company for a few years will gradually be given more.
• Sick days in the US are protected by law, but unpaid. Some companies offer paid sick day policies, others do not and force you to use paid holidays if you want to be paid for those days.
• Increasingly, companies offer 12 paid “floating holidays” per year which are used to cover public holidays. But there are only 11 public holidays leaving one extra to be used however the employee pleases. An employer that doesn’t offer floating holidays will instead typically just pay the employee for those 11 public holidays.
• Tax in the US is typically less than in Europe. A person making $100,000 annually would pay $13,200 in federal tax, and between $0 and about $10,000 in state tax, depending on where they live. The US also offers various tax credits and exemptions. For example, putting money into a retirement account means that the money deposited isn’t counted as income.
• The US, famously, does not have a taxpayer-funded healthcare system. Most office workers have decent to excellent healthcare coverage provided by the employer, and typically the employer pays for the majority of the cost. This ends up costing a few hundred dollars a month to the worker out of pocket for their family, typically.
• Everyday expenses in the US tend to be cheaper than in Europe due to lower consumption tax. This also varies between US states, with sales tax (comparable to VAT) ranging from 0% to 10%. Sales tax over 10% is uncommon. 7-8% is typical.
• Energy is cheaper in the US than in Europe. In my area, a gallon of Midgrade 89 gasoline, equivalent to Europe’s 95 E10 petrol, costs $4.50 per gallon (€0.96 per litre), which is not far from average in the US. My electricity costs 10.8¢ (8.7 Euro cents) per kWh, but this is considered low nationwide because my municipality owns its own power generation; on average electricity costs around 18¢ per kWh (15 Euro cents).
• The US is less dense and therefore commute times are longer. Most people drive to work. A commute of around 20-30 km is considered average for most people. A commute of 40 km is not super uncommon, but 50 km and higher is rare.