300k in SF or NYC is FAR from early retirement unless you live 'frugally' - Manhattan average rents are 5K for 1 bed. You pay city, state and federal tax. Food and alcohol are 30-50 percent higher than Paris. And no one talks about property taxes.

In the US, local and federal taxes plus property taxes are easily 50-60 percent of your income.

Inflation runs higher in NYC than the rest of the country, as well.

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cj an hour ago | parent [-]

$300k is also on the high end. Most devs have a very difficult time getting hired at companies that pay that much.

$300k is probably in the top 10-15% for software engineers if I had the guess. And I assume the top 10-15% in Paris is substantially more than 80k?

Edit: Okay, I guess $300k is near the median in SF if you’re including stock options. (Media base salary in SF is 150-160k)

	▲	root_axis 14 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		It's definitely on the high end. Besides the fact that most startup equity ends up being worthless, you can't wait on a four year cliff to pay your rent.
	▲	sdthjbvuiiijbb 31 minutes ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		>And I assume the top 10-15% in Paris is substantially more than 80k? I don't think that's a good assumption. 80k is rather high for Paris. That's a Google salary at their small office there (or it was when I checked a few years ago). I think the OP's comparison was pretty reasonable.
	▲	aborsy an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Top graduates in France make 40-50k. This is the reality I have seen. Salaries are often tabulated with limited range.