The Greater NYC area will net an entry level dev 60-75k max in most cases. 108k is much closer to the average, taking into account highly experienced outliers.

National average of entry level dev salaries for reference: https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Entry-Level-Software-D...

But... he is self employed, which means a significant part of his work includes sales and management. That's something I don't enjoy doing and I am very happy having a boss do it for me. He also has more tax and less employee protection and other advantages, which he compensates by having insurance, but that extra expense is to be considered when comparing income (it is still more than me in the end).

As I said, I am content with my life, even though I know I could make is "better" if I really wanted to. It is just an insight on a reason why many engineers prefer to stay despite the "low" pay.

Also worth noting that many French people dislike the very idea of working in the US. Sometimes because they don't like the culture or the sometimes misguided idea they have of it. Sometimes it is the language, or just moving and leaving their relatives behind. Canada, especially Quebec can be a "milder" alternative, I have several friends who went there, some stayed, others came back, I think the pay was higher there every time.

Let’s just start by saying that back home, every worker has 5 week of pays vacation by law.

Most qualify worker get 6 , and it’s not uncommon to go in the 7 or 8 with seniority.

Just with that simple fact the « work life balance » a US company has to offer is kinda cute compared to what I would get automatically.

Then come childcare, education and healthcare. Being childless in the US is fine, but when you see the cost of a child you understand the large salaries.

Something I still don’t get after 10 years is how poor people afford kids in this country.

They are increasingly difficult to find.