Expect 50% salary and taxes that will make your eyes water. French bureaucracy is kafkaesque even in 2026.
Other than that I agree I'd love to move there.
But yes, salary before taxes is much lower than in the US. If your goal is to make as much money as possible, either stay in US or move to a different European country (Northern Europe or Switzerland).
You're "not really worrying" ... whilst you are in a job.
There fixed that for you.
As I am sure you are acutely aware US is the home of lay-offs and is generally easy to fire people.
If you loose your job in the US it becomes panic stations because you loose that precious employer-paid healthcare overnight.
Meanwhile in Europe ? Take your time job hunting a new job, healthcare is still free.
Currently, healthcare coverage tend to be better in several European countries when you are jobless... because the system try to compensate the fact you do not have income anymore.
Don't get me wrong, their is many 'flaws' in several European healthcare systems and it is far from perfect. but it tends to be more "human" and less "for profit".
Europe is a _very_ different place.
Not everything here is so bad.
There is also NGI Sargasso which had EU grants being awarded to collaborations between parties in the EU and the US, working on internet innovation projects. Looks like that funding program has closed. Not sure if these open calls were slashed by the Trump government.
High risk, high reward and all that. Although, the previous 20 years of high compensation are obviously no indication of the next 20.
> The FMLA allows eligible employees to take up to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period to care for a new child, care for a seriously ill family member, or recover from a serious illness.
There's limitations on that, but the common idea that Americans don't have healthcare is unfounded and appallingly ignorant.
"Despite spending nearly twice as much on healthcare per capita, utilization rates for many services in the United States is lower than other wealthy OECD countries."
"In fact, the United States spends over $1,000 per person on administrative costs — approximately five times more than the average of other wealthy countries"
"Despite higher healthcare spending, America’s health outcomes are not any better than those in other developed countries. The United States actually performs worse in some common health metrics like life expectancy, infant mortality, unmanaged diabetes, and safety during childbirth."
- https://www.pgpf.org/article/how-does-the-us-healthcare-syst...
I don't fear mass shootings any more than I fear terrorist perpetrated subway or event bombings.
> you're not going bankrupt because of a minor/medium medical condition
Medical debt and the discourse around it is interesting. Not having insurance is the fundamental issue, medical debt itself is legally mandated to be negotiable. As in they are legally required to find a negotiable payoff price that will work for your personal financial situation, similar to school debt. I pay $70/month for school debt and will for the next 25 years. Is that a lot? Yes. Does it matter to me? Not so much. I could be wrong about the medical debt, but I don't think i am.
> You can freely walk
This is huge and something that would drastically improve my quality of life in a substantial way. Love Europe for this. Love.