Really depends on who you ask, where they are in life and their experiences; what they’re accustomed to and even $$$$$$ they have.

As an American, if you work for a corporation that provides great insurance options, you’re in better hands compared to lesser options. Short term / long term disability insurance is very important in case an illness removes your ability to work.

I think you are seeing this in the incorrect way.

People dithering about moving to the US on Reddit (while realistically being able to do so), will never experience many of the downsides you mention about living in the US, because they are going to be highly qualified.

Highly qualified people in the US earn a lot of money (much more than they would in most European countries), and enjoy a very high quality of life.

They do not experience high crime, because they live in neighborhoods with single family homes, outside of the city, boring but completely insulated from the crime of poor neighborhoods.

High college fees do not matter if your salary is 200k dollars or more per year, and your wife earns the same.

Small amount of LEGAL maternity leave, sure, but employers are free to give you as much as they want, and they will, if you are important enough to them.

The US, is, by essence, a country for rich people. It’s probably the only place on earth where poor people end up subsidizing rich people on a massive and institutional scale.

​

The only actual reasons as for why not to move to the US are:

Work-life balance

Fraying society and constant cultural and political warfare

I know the next redditor will tell me about how little they work and how they have every Friday free while working in the US, but that is often the internet effect.

Working in the US means that you can be fired at any point in time, for absolutely 0 reason. People are apprehensive about taking long vacations, because if the company can function without them, well, then why are they even there? They have fewer vacation days, and often end up not even using all of them.

As for a fraying society and constant political warfare. I am sure, again redditors will tell me it’s not actually that bad, but the polarization has gone to absurd levels. The “I got it, fuck you” mentality in the US is also, for me, quite dismal. Many people seem to think of taxation as theft, and there is a reason why the US has a libertarian party. I’d rather live in a society, pay my taxes, and not think that poor people somehow “deserve it”.

Too general

I mean they are uniform immigration and tax codes but the United States is really like 900 different countries. Where do you want to be specifically?

If you come to Northeast US your healthcare will be as good if not better than anywhere in the EU. You will pay for healthcare in conjunction with your employment, but it will be excellent care.

I’m American, and working on engaging to Europe next year.

There are a lot of reasons we want to do that. But just one would have been enough. Last year, I got a text message from my teenage son, during school hours, when he wouldn’t normally have his phone out. It read:

We’re in lockdown. There’s a shooter in the building. Tell everyone I love them?

My son made it out of that incident safely, although sending him back to that school a few days later was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. There was one death, and one boy who was arrested several blocks away for his murder.

I question whether American career benefits are actually all that great, given that you might make more money but have much less time to use it. But it doesn’t matter to me. There’s no career benefit on the face of the earth that’s worth ever having to sit at home, terrified that my child is about to be the next victim of the American epidemic of mass shootings.

My Quality of Life improved exponentially when I moved back to the US.

1. Jobs pay a lot more
2. You pay a lot less taxes.
3. Outside of a handful of VHCOL cities, life costs less.
4. It’s much easier to build wealth in the US than just about any other country.

What benefits your country mandates by law is irrelevant to you as a skilled worker/PhD. Virtually every job you will have at that level will offer you compensation and benefits well beyond the statutory minimums regardless.

You’re pretty much on point with the cons, however:

1. My degrees are already paid for.
2. The cost of medical care depends on the insurance you have through work, and you can geoarbitrage anything you can schedule ahead of time.
3. I find myself taking more PTO in the US than I did overseas because I can afford to travel more.

So long story short, yes I would say the pros vastly outweigh the cons.

I know a number of people who moved here who are now WTF and are moving out.

American Living Europe currently - and have been for 7 years (and a previous stint in England a decade ago)…

I’m *JUST* now missing things in the USA and have given some serious consideration about moving back. I’m very conflicted because I know it’s not the same place I left for many reasons, but few places are these days. (Just look at the Dutch elections!)

I Didn’t HATE the USA, but in all fairness, I was in Hawaii just before Europe, so that’s hardly traditional America. But I find myself sort of shocked at behaviors I see when I’m back. More rudeness and entitlement than I ever recall in the past. People have become emboldened and are just dicks by nature. The flip side of that, people can also be incredibly friendly - but again I don’t think being a dick is uniquely american :) - but the genuine friendliness when you experience it, is pretty unique and warm. As long as you’re not getting shot at :)

I think a lot of the negative press the USA gets is… well… press that looks for negative. No one ever talks about saving kittens or the good people do, it’s always a glorified horror show.

Access to healthcare hasn’t been the issue as much as affording it and access to insurance. A lot has changed in the past decade and tax credits can pay for a large portion of decent insurance. That used to be a fear of mine (cost of insurance, etc). And I know people talk abou the amazing healthcare in Europe. But nothing compares to the ability to get literally anything you want or need in the USA from a doctor. National healthcare is great if you get hit by a train or fall off a curb and break a hip. But try getting antibiotics or anything to help when you’re miserable with strep throat or sinus infection. So I appreciate the med systems in both places for different reasons.

People talk about needing sooooo much money to live. I see these ridiculous numbers about what people need to make to feel comfortable.

BUT!!!

Americans consume WAY TOO MUCH JUNK. Junk stuff that sits in storage units, junk food that is over priced, junk trinkets, overpriced shit that is just NOT necessary or a key to happiness. So if you remove all of that JUNK from a budget, I don’t think America is that expensive. Sure there are differences and different priorities - but the amount of waste and excess is incredible – especially witnessing it when I return after living in the EU.

Crime & safety - problems are everywhere. The USA just has a real gun problem mixed with a global mental health problem post-covid. But the population is so large and while the incidents are tragic and too common, it should be thought of from a relative perspective. 350Million people and there are some shooting each other. Not surprising, regardless of what part of the world. Again, it’s a lot of press focusing on the worst stuff. I live in a safe country (NL) but there are still real concerns in some parts of the country. You might not get shot at, but you could get stabbed walking down the street.

Everywhere has issues… political, safety, financial… but there is ONE thing I will say about america …

There is NOWHERE on this planet that has the opportunity that America has. You can make amazing things happen if you’re ambitious and know how to work it. I have friends who have earned tremendous sums of money from ideas - literal billions. I have done pretty well myself. Better than I have in the EU. Endless possibilities.

The us is the land of opportunity. U can make a lot of $ if you are smart, educated, and socially intelligent. If u have a good job you will have plenty of vacation and great healthcare. My starting employees right out of college automatically get 15 paid vacation days when they start. They don’t work over 40 hours a week. It depends on the company for work life balance but most are trending towards more work life balance these days. Most areas of the US are very safe unless you live in a very poor area.

Moved a few years ago from UK. I thought I would enjoy life in USA, but I’d say I’ve liked it even more than I thought I would. QoL definitely took a leap up. From the obviously things (pay jump + lower taxes), to the housing (we live close enough to walk to work), owning a nice car to do weekend trips.

I haven’t found the healthcare to be “poor”… Expensive, yes. Although we have great employer insurance, so that is highly dependent on your employment situation. Likewise maternity leave - we had 6 months maternity leave (at varying scales of pay) for our most recent child. So this is employer dependent too. I think that’s a consideration it’s easy to overlook. While European nations mandate certain things like this, the US doesn’t to the same level but each company can choose to. Another case in point - my first US job gave me 4 weeks vacation.

When making the move I always told myself that if I didn’t like it I could always move back. I now have zero intention of ever moving back.

Just be aware that this sub has an anti -US and anti-Anglophone world bias, due to the nature of Reddit. So please get some perspectives outside of this subreddit

Just depends on what you want. Have you considered Switzerland for career stuff instead of USA ?

“Extremely high tuition fees for colleges” this is also highly dependent on states and whether or not you’re considering having children in that state.

You’re initially correct, it’ll be high tuition rates for you, but your future generations may greatly benefit from a citizenship/resident status.

Example:

My dad is an expatriate from Morocco to Florida, USA.

He never finished college because he had kids he had to work to support. However, Florida is one of 17 states that offers state-government-funded merit scholarships. Between that and fafsa, I went to a state university (UCF) completely free the first go around.

UCF is a highly recruited STEM school (engineering, finance, accounting) with a pipeline to high paying LOTS of jobs on the space coast. A lot of these jobs easily pay 6 figures in the first 5-10 years of the career, offer good health insurance, et cetera.

Work life balance will be profession and company dependent. I’ve been at companies where I worked 60 hours / week every year, and I’m currently at a company where I work 25 hours / week.

I’m moving back to the EU after about 25 years in the US.

It’s true that you can make a lot more money here as a skilled person. If you’re a woman in the sciences, there are actually jobs here.

The question is: what are you used to? Do you live in a sad small Northern village that used to have a mine and now all the jobs are gone? In that case, any college town in the US would be a delight to you.

Are you an established academic living in a vibration city with all the trappings of nice European life? Then all US cities will stress you out and depress you (yes, even NYC).

I would take a look at your day-to-day to see what you take for granted and if it’s gone, how much will you miss it?