I am one of these Atlanta-based machine learning specialists, here to confirm that we do exist. But I think it is very rare, and I am not sure many at all are doing $300k+. Since the cost of living is comparatively low, though, I am doing way better than I ever could dream of doing in the bay.
What on earth sort of companies? I grew up near Atlanta and can’t think of any that would pay $300k for machine learning expertise. (I’m just curious because I will probably be living there again at some point in the future and I have a background in ML).
Cost of living in the US gets ridiculous. Healthcare is expensive and gets more expensive the more you make. As much as I make I'm probably one bad accident away from being wiped out financially
When you add a family, child care is super expensive; think $350/week for two kids
Not to say we aren't hyper-consuming gluttons, but I think that's only about one third of the picture
In Europe you often only get ~50-55% net and that's often from <$100k salary even at hot tech companies. But in many jurisdictions you then won't have any healthcare or education cost plus lower living cost overall. Pension is also taken care of in many countries. That probably still leaves you worse off than in the US but leads to a bit more even distribution of salaries across the population.
> you then won't have any healthcare or education costs
70 to 80% of healthcare plans are covered by US employers though. So maybe we should compare total comp plus benefits? Health plans aren't total costs, though, because cost sharing and care is expensive... But that means adding cost of living adjustments. But if you are using a chunk of your salary to plan for retirement in a lower COL area, maybe those aren't even fair.
An apples to apples comparison is incredibly difficult.
Plus National Insurance which adds another 2%. But the average salary in the UK is around £30-35k so it's a problem mostly tech and financial workers have.
Actually, that’s a terrible link. Before Trump’s tax increase targeting CA/NY, the SALT itemized deduction lowers the effective tax rate by a further 3% or so, and that calculator fails to include it.
The company I work for has what seems to be progressive deductibles. The less you make the lower your deductible will be. For some people here the only choice is a high deductible plan
The hospitals regularly write off bills for lower income individuals, while better paid patients are stuck with the insurance-inflated bill if they aren't covered.
