It’s really not a disputed fact at all that engineering jobs in the US pay more than in Europe, but that European jobs have more benefits such as vacation and social security, and US generally has higher cost of living.

I am surprised that this suddenly is a “based on what data?” discussion.

It has always been an apples / oranges comparison.

You're surprised that people want evidence instead of blindly trusting (supposedly) common knowledge?

If it's true it should be trivial to provide said evidence.