“Safe, Reliable And Boring”: 43 People Compare What It’s Like To Live In Europe Vs. The US

Europe. All the way.
I find it funny that money is such an argument for being in the US.
You want money, go to Switzerland. Same wages without the craziness of US politics and their hyper capitalist nonsense. You’ll have a better work life balance and be able to feel like the world is on your doorstep
Don’t take my word for it, check average wages, gdp per capita etc. Switzerland is richer. And richer in culture, work life balance, mindset everything. The US doesn’t stand a chance.

The US is a poor society with a few extremely rich individuals. Europe is a rich society but has less wealth overall. I've spent time in both and I easily prefer Europe.

No way in hell would I go back to the US.

Too many guns, not enough healthcare. I currently have 32 days holiday, a 34 hr work week, and I NEVER worry a disgruntled co worker is going to [end] us all.

Europe.
Better healthcare, better food, cheaper education, better safety laws.

College is free in some countries.

Europe. I was born in the US. Lived there 24 years. I've lived in Europe 29 years and have never been back to the USA. Pretty obvious which one I like best. I think working class people are better off in Europe. And I like it that I can get on a plane for less than $100 (roundtrip) and go to another country on one of my four weeks of holiday per year. I wasn't able to do that sort of thing when I lived in the US.

I once had the pleasure of asking this to an older international student from Europe. He said that based on his experiences in the USA, that the EU had, by and large, blown past the USA's standard of living years ago. His biggest things that he hated were medical expenses, and he was perturbed at the commonality of racism, and the treatment of skilled workers, which he considered abysmal. Where most Americans are lucky to get a few weeks a year here and there, most people can take a month off every year without too much issue. Also, dependning on where you live, car ownership, and all that entails, is much less of a requirement, as the EU has a robust train network, affordable airlines, and good public transport in every city.

I live in Norway and from what I have seen of the conditions in USA it appears that life is rough there unless one is apart of the rich elite. Everyone else appear to have significantly lower living standards then us Norwegians.

There's been debates amongst Norwegian think tanks and politicians if usa still qualify as a first world country. crime is rampant, police force breaking down, people in the streets, people not affording to buy homes etc..

also usa has very low economic mobility according to statistics, whereas Norway and Denmark have the highest economic mobility in the world.

which means it's a lot easier in Norway to become rich then in usa. for equal work hours in Norway vs usa you'd make alot more money in Norway.

so the american dream is [over] whilst the Norwegian dream is a reality.

I think the day to day living in Europe is so much richer and fulfilling that the day to day living in the USA. In a European city you go out your door and you have the world at your feet (depending of course on the city). The culture, even in small villages, is so important (I am specifically talking about France where I have lived). Museums, music, food, good restaurants, beautiful nature, café culture. The US tends to be much more strip mall and car oriented, go home and watch tv every day for hours on end until the next day and do it all again.

Both are awesome if you're rich, but if you're poor Europe pips the USA.

All the different languages and cultures are just energizing to me. It gets my brain working in so many amazing ways. I grew up in a European household with a French mom, so I feel at home when I'm in Europe. The US feels so tense and angry to me. I wish it were less so.

I lived in Southern California between the ages of 6-13, Switzerland from 13-20 and England from 20-23 for university. I've been back in LA for the last two months to try and become an adult out here and I've just booked my ticket back to Europe for next month. Spent 10 years dreaming of my return to the US but I have a bunch of extended family here so coming back older and realizing how burnt out all of them are from just trying to stay afloat has made things look a lot bleaker.

I realize that I love and longed for the US mainly for all the bells and whistles you truly won't see anywhere else but it does get old pretty quick (I say this as someone who has spent the last few weeks frolicking around LA living as vapidly as a YouTuber from out of town just to get it out of my system). I much prefer the understated way of life in Europe where things just seem less 'loud', from the people to the brands and oversaturated advertising. Seriously, you guys have ads everywhere for everything. Now I see the milk and honey abundance as excess and it just comes across sinister.

But in all seriousness, I ultimately value the quality of life that Switzerland provides me and my family in terms of education, work/life balance, healthcare, on top of the confidence I have in our safety out there which was definitely something I realize I took for granted. I literally just had someone try to unlock my apartment door as I started typing this - I guess thinking it was theirs? I also didn't fully grasp the luxury of having accessible public transport out there until I spent a month in Illinois where I realized the US really is built around the assumption that you're driving your monster truck anytime anywhere in and out of the suburbs otherwise you'll be trekking just to run your errands.

I love the US but I no longer consider it "home" the way I used to and realistically I don't see myself raising a family out here. Also doesn't help seeing how exhausted my childhood friends and relatives close in age already are when our lives have barely started.

I moved to Europe from San Diego, but I’ve also lived all over the US for work a few years ago.

I love Europe way more than the US. Although financially there’s more opportunities in the US. But the way of life here in Europe is so relaxing to me. I’m not worried about much anymore. I walk everywhere now, and learning the language. It definitely helped me mentally and I’m a lot more clear minded. In the US, I was always anxious.

If you want money, go to the US. But expect to pay more for everything.

If you want a life, and if you have a decent job or a side income. I definitely recommend moving to Europe.

I hope you find what you are looking for in life! Life is too short. Follow your heart in choosing where you want to live. Cheers!

If you are extremely ambitious, the US will give you a lot more opportunities to realize your goals. However, for the majority of people that aren’t overachievers, (most of) Europe will give you a better quality of life.

Europe is way better than the US and North America overall (healthcare, public transit, culture, mentality, you name it).

I'm American but live in a western European country since several years. I visit the US once a year.

Both places are varied, and even within each European country it varies a lot, so it's hard to do direct comparisons. Overall, they each have their advantages and disadvantages based on individual preference.

I echo the sentiment of other posters regarding walkability, which is generally better in western Europe. That said, I've lived in different locations in France where public transportation wasn't as good and I'm from a large metro area in the US where it is actually pretty good. Though the smaller sized cities help with walkability and I like to walk.

For the US I prefer the higher salaries, more varied, professional options, more ease of older adults to go back to school, the ethnic, nationally and cultural diversity, as well as food diversity given the various climates. But I dislike the nonstop toxic political discussions blasted all over the media all of the time, the heavy use of cars in many places (it's hard to get around due to distances, I know) and many people's disinterest in what's happening outside of the continent.

Both places have absolutely gorgeous natural environments.

In western Europe, I enjoy it being easier to travel to other destinations, for example, it has been much easier for me to reach Asian and African countries.

I feel the people much more closed to outsiders in European countries and after years living here, I still don't have local friends. Also as a person of color, there is a lot of basic ignorance surrounding race and ethnicity and little apparent interest in addressing it. I feel more buffered against the racism because I'm American but the hate I've gotten for being American has been frequent.

The quality of healthcare is the same, but healthcare is easier for me to access and navigate here than when I was in the US. When I gave birth, I didn't get as much time off as some other European countries (ten weeks vs three months for FMLA in the US) but I got a portion of my salary and my spouse got a month off too which wouldn't have happened for me in the US, so I appreciated that.

I could go on, but I think that's enough.

All i read here going for the USA is money, money, money. one way or another is always money.

Lived in the US for 20 years and moved to Spain 1 .5 years ago. Here I make 30% less than in the the US but I spend 60% less, you do the math... Here why I moved to Europe:

After 20 years and 2 months, I left the US.

I am a US citizen as well as my family and even though we started from a very humble beginning, with minimum wage jobs and with many limitations, steadily and with a lot of hard work I climbed the ladder and ended up enjoying good jobs with good salaries as well. My wife did the same, she earned her second degree and her masters and became a teacher so between the 2 of us we could sustain our family comfortably (not with luxury).

We have 3 kids, all American and even as we were all fully integrated into the US society and system, we felt as something was wrong. Life seemed somewhat empty and lacking in many basic things while we were in the race for the american dream. You see, in the US all is measured in dollars, especially success. Not in happiness or in your contribution to society or to your family, but in terms of where you live, how big is your house, what cars you have and how much cash you have in your account.

For this reason, people bend over backwards and do all kinds of things to project the image of success; the pretty house with the white fence, the 2 cars and the vacations to wherever people think to be exclusive at the moment. Primarily they do this by amassing huge amounts of debt. So while it all looks beautiful with the perfectly manicured lawns and the kids going off to expensive colleges, it’s all sustained by this enormous debt, credit cards, student loans, etc. So in the end it’s really a facade. You end up living your entire life in this endless cycle; with no real happiness and not knowing how to break out of it.

In addition to the questionable lifestyle described above, there are other factors that made me question if I was in the right place, especially for my children. Here my top 10 reasons for leaving the country:

1) As mentioned by many others in this forum; the misery of its healthcare system. That’s the right word, misery. Because in general it puts its people through the misery of debt and bankruptcy for accessing basic medical services, in a country capable of putting robots in Mars and having military bases across the world, but that it cannot provide the basic, humanitary health care to its people.

2) Social inequality: you have to see it to believe it. The differences between the haves and have not´s is incredible. While 5% of the people have it all, 95% barely go by. And there is nothing like poverty in a developed country, its an ugly kind of misery that is hard to justify.

3) Political toxicity: specially coming from the ultra-far right (also known as republican party); it’s a neo-nationalist, god-preaching, gun-loving, anti-immigration, anti-equality, pro-rich, fear mongering group of people that make up for the majority of the country now.

4) Trump and his followers: yes, he was also a factor in my decision.

5) Education system: it ranks very low in terms of the priorities of the American society. Now that I live in Spain, we must deal with the fact that our kids our are below the expected level for their grades because the education system is so bad in the US. Its all math and American history, nothing existed before.

6) Violence-Crime: whether it’s the absurd gun violence or that in the political environment, TV, songs or the overall hostility and aggressiveness of the people against each other. People are very angry and aggressive and there is no real sense of community.

7) Hyper individuality: Its all about me, second me, and last me. Because of that there is no contribution to the ¨Us¨. Forget about big investments like public transportation, big infrastructure, general medical insurance, etc.

8) Widespread Ignorance: In general, Americans are very inwards and self-centered. They cannot conceive that there is a world out there and that it might actually be better than the US.

9) Cost of living: its exorbitant. When you cover your basics you end up with very little for savings or enjoying life. As I got older and due to the fact that I never had enough for savings towards retirement, it seemed less and less plausible.

10) Crumbling infrastructure: Everything from streets to highways, trains, airports, etc. is decaying with no investment for ages. Again, no sense in investing in ¨Us¨.

I am thankful for everything the US did for me, but I´m not looking back, is not the same place I arrived at over 22 years ago, It is in serious decline.

I have dual uk/us citizenship, i prefer europe. Outside of east europe, it's more free/ less corrupt and less violent than america.

I am an American living in Europe so probably the issues I have here are not so relevant for EU citizens. But if it weren’t for the nightmarish bureaucracy (I’ve lived in Germany and Italy), I would hands-down chose Europe. The work culture is better (vacation days), the cost of living is better, and the security is better. By that I mean you never have to be afraid of being one car crash away from crippling medical debt, and no student debt either. In Italy the health care is not as good but in Germany I had several procedures done with no cost out of pocket to me and I regularly saw specialists. But it’s insanely hard to find a place to live here and I’m so sick of visa and residency permit applications that I might move back home.

The US gives you some possibilities of higher social mobility and salary potential. But just as easily you can get a $20k bill from the ER if you have an emergency, and the “at will” employment + intense work culture in most jobs can suck the energy out of you.

My experience living in Europe was almost 10 years ago now (when I had to head back to the US). I deeply wish I could've stayed but it wasn't in the cards. I mainly lived in Norway but had a shorter work stint in France (not Paris) and another short stint at a language program/just living in Poland (learned Polish growing up but lost it).

Someone said it better than me here already: the US exists in extremes, Europe even at its extremes is very middle of the road.

I know my experience was so long ago so things are probably different, but in each country there really wasn't a wide inequality gap like you have in the US that seeps into all of life. In the US if you're wealthy and well connected, the world is at your feet, if you're only one of those two things or neither? you're left to die and it's a race to the bottom.

I see many Europeans claiming their experience with US healthcare as foreigners paying full price in cash (and who might as well have floating $ signs over their heads to any hospitalist) assuming naively that it's the same for Americans. It's not. Far from it. We're bled dry for insurance that covers almost nothing these days, then tries to double bill you or send you to collections/sue you for not paying double when you already paid, and then you're still waiting 6mos to a year for ANY doctor even if you're already established. Health being money-first and what treatments or tests doctors are even allowed to mention getting decided on by insurance companies affects all of healthcare. Even if you have the money and support independently this structure affects all of us because we live here and are then flooded with the problems caused by this (most obvious one is our major homelessness crises; it's not a uniform cause issue but many end up homeless from medical bills or lack of real, fruitful care and are just left to die).

The same applies for schools and education quality (or lack thereof in many places/the No Child Left Behind Act really doing damage across the board). Yeah you might go to a nicer public school or charter or private school...but you're living in a world surrounded by a lot of people just pushed through without learning at the same level. People think of stuff like this in Europe from a stance of everyone having a average but decent education and more or less being on the same page....things fall apart at the seams when large swathes of the population are functionally illiterate and intelligence is routinely devalued. Being intelligent or educated doesn't mean you've escaped the effects. Plenty of dummies in Europe too, but again...extremes.

Everywhere in Europe being more walkable/functional transit and people-centric instead of car-centric affects a lot of life for the better. You just see more people out and about even in smaller places. Where I lived you still often needed a car, but you *could* get away without one. Made the town as a whole just livlier, less isolated feeling, I feel so old saying this but....you could see teenagers and kids walking or biking around and living life (also has to do with lack of 3rd spaces in the US for them).

**Those safety nets, even for those of us that don't need them, really enact a sense of calm...people are less agressive and volatile when I live in Europe.** So was I, in part because I felt the worst that could happen to me was I get deported - even if I somehow ended up in prison...prison life would be better than regular life in the US.

Yes it's harder to make more in Europe, but more likely than not if you're employed you're not homeless (or quickly dead because medical care is tied to your employment) and you can survive. In the US you work the same job and you can't afford anything and still have to pay personally in many cases for your own (expensive) healthcare, and your only vacation is if you're unemployed (in practice). Not a lot of risk = not a lot of reward, but understand that high reward likely means the norm to achieve that his extremely high risk.