To wonder why anyone would want to live in America?

[allergon842]

I follow a woman on Instagram who moved from England to the States and someone commented "America is only great if you're white, rich, and healthy".

Putting aside Trump/politics, I've always found it weird why anyone would want/would have wanted to live there. I understand if you're from a developing country, but I don't see the appeal for anyone who comes from Europe. The lower taxes and opportunities are enticing, but if you can't make it, you can fall very easy with the lack of a safety net. It seems to be only decent if you're a top earner ($100,000+).

It's not somewhere I'd chose to live but plenty of people seem to get on ok there. USA seems to come on for some criticism but countries like Japan seem to be equally unrelenting as a place to live and work.

It does seem to be fashionable to criticise the USA.

Bigger homes, more space! Ive sorted of always wanted to live in America, not sure why, I just think its cooler than UK!

Career opportunities, high standard of living (compared to UK) and housing, outside space, weather, landscape, ambition and optimism, entertainment, sports, lifestyle. Lots of reasons.

And salary - $100k isn't a top earner in the US. I was looking at moving to LA a decade ago for $150k and that was a bog standard middle management salary. Salaries are much higher, even accounting for health insurance premiums.

If I was younger I’d move to the US over the UK. I’d live in California.

I have relatives who live there and they’d never move back here.

Honestly I spent my childhood split roughly equally between the UK and the States and preferred the states in almost every conceivable way. We had more disposable income, better healthcare, infinitely superior dental care, big long summer holidays, loads of opportunities pursue outdoor sports, swimming, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, skiing etc etc that we didn't really have access to in the same way in the UK. I also felt there was more sense of community, lots of parades, community events, civic pride that we aren't particularly good at here.

But, what I didn't realise at the time was that this was because we were, in fact, rich and white, living somewhere full of rich, white people.

DH would earn substantially more in the states, we were in California with the kids over Easter and we did talk about it, but politics and the great orange buffoon aside (which is a huge contributing factor). We decided we don't want our kids growing up somewhere that bulletproof backpacks for preschoolers are a thing.

Christ, I wouldn't move there now if you paid me handsomely. I think it's on the brink of something very bad.

Perception of the US is probably different to the reality, and I mean that in both ways. Some think the US is great for opportunity, open air lifestyle, big ranch style homes, and so on. Others think it is hell on earth, no freedom, racism, lack of women's rights, maternity leave, exorbitant health costs, school shooting, ICE and so on.

A part of each is probably true. I wouldn't live there, prefer my own turf. But each to their own.

You wait until Reform gets voted in here. All the knuckle draggers are going to drag this country into the gutter.

$100,000 isn’t close to a top owner there. Salaries are generally much higher than in Europe. And taxes also so much lower. Homes are bigger. As an expat with a professional job you can have a really, really good standard of living and if you’ve come from the UK/Europe and your company is transferring you (the easiest route to get a visa other than marrying an American) it’s not uncommon to negotiate to keep your European vacation allowance and to have health insurance included for the whole family. Everyone speaks English so it’s easy to settle. And who cares about a safety net? Lose your job and you move back to the UK, to house you own but are renting out (also a nice money maker) and free at the point of use healthcare is waiting for you. It’s also a great opportunity to travel and see that part of the world cheaply and easily in a way that would probably take you years to do from Europe.

Ultimately I couldn’t send my kids to school there and we moved back but it was a fantastic lifestyle that you just can’t replicate here. I totally get why that appeals and people stay.

But what about health bankruptcy and huge insurance bills? Always having that fear hanging over you. Not being able to walk anywhere, guns, long drives everywhere, tipping for everything, when you fall there is hardly any support….We have family who turned down green cards and lucrative jobs because of so many reasons. It is a stunning country though. Some of the most beautiful places I’ve been to have been in the USA.

More money, more space, better standard of living, better healthcare, friendlier people......

100% cooler!! My husbands extended family live in the states and you get so much more for your money. Even with food - wholefoods is a holy grail and you get an actual huge salad box with lots of chicken. In M&S you pay a fortune and get one piece of chicken and two lettuce leaves.

Their tax structure is totally different. I can’t remember exactly but there’s no way that if you’re on £50K you’d be taxed at a rate of 40%. No such thing as council tax either (yes healthcare is ££) but I’m pretty sure if you’re employed you get insurance

Regardless of above - it is just a stunning country. People I think tend to think of LA and NYC but we did a trip through Wyoming, Montana, Utah , Colorado and it’s just absolutely vast and wild. No wonder why a lot of Americans don’t have passports… if you want skiing you can, if you want the beach you can and if you want desert you have that too!

I’d LOVE to live there but getting a visa is so damn hard. Sure, Trump sucks but everyone I’ve ever met there is so friendly and yes, that includes trump supporters

Went to San Francisco last year. I would never live in the states. There were middle aged women having mental health crises in the streets, taking their clothes off and people walking past like it was normal. A meal out was ridiculously expensive in part because you have to leave such a massive tip because they don’t pay staff. The food was shite. I thought it was going to be great and it was all sugar loaded carbs. The only part we liked was the views and countryside and that’s the bit with no Americans in it.

Which state did you live in?? I think with my husbands work and love for the states (as do I) it’s very much on the cards someday! Did you not send your kids there by choice ie what’s the education system like?

I hate the tipping culture. I would rather them just add a set % on so there's no 'are you a great tipper' dance.

Re healthcare - I think the Brits moving to America (generally well educated, younger, ambitious, middle class professionals) are unlikely to experience the hard end of healthcare. It's old age and long term conditions that send people bankrupt.

The thing that is so striking is the can-do culture of the US.

It is not coincidence that almost all of the world's most successful companies were founded and grew there.

The UK and Europe have simply failed - largely because of high taxes - to foster the same entrepreneurial mindset. The UK and Europe are going backwards while the US goes forwards.

None of this is to defend US politics or the lack of social safety net in many places but unless our thick politicians get their heads round these stark economic facts and change policy we are all going to get poorer and the US will grow richer!

Our employer provided insurance covered all medical expenses, I wouldn’t have agreed to move there without. Yes it was tied to our jobs but so were our visas so lose our jobs and we’d be moving home to the UK anyway so it simply wasn’t possible for us to end up without insurance or a job there. So whilst medical bills can be a massive issue for Americans, they aren’t really for expats, which is more the scenario OP is talking about.

America has loads of amazing cities not just NYC so you totally can have the walkable lifestyle. We lived in Chicago and the only time we did long drives was by choice e.g. let’s go see Nashville this weekend!

Tipping is just how it is and eating out (excluding Michelin star fine dining places) is usually so much cheaper and you’re earning so much more that you don’t begrudge a waitress on minimum wage 20%.

I agree with you on the guns though. It’s why we moved back for our eldest to start school.

"America is only great if you're white, rich, and healthy".

I mean, this simply isn't true. It's a wealthy country and the standard of living for people at almost every level of society is better than the equivalent in the UK. The difference is for the poorest - quality of life for them is dire, considerably worse than here.

I’ve never felt unsafe walking through USA. Granted I’ve never walked alone through places you wouldn’t want to be in any city.

Personally, I don’t see guns as an issue. Sure, you see in the news the horrific cases of school shootings but we have an abundance of knife crime here in the UK… which sometimes I wonder might be preventable if guns were legal. In fact, women (and men) might be able to protect themselves from rape and crime more if criminals knew that everyone had a gun. Sure, they’d also have a gun but I can’t stand the notion that guns in America are ‘scary’… sure there needs to be more vetting so that they don’t get in the wrong hands but it’s in the constitution.

Like all countries it has good and bad, especially in a place so vastly big as the USA. For me it does not appeal, the whole gun thing is something I could never live with. The salaries may be higher but the cost of living even in comparison to our rising costs are insane. The lack of decent affordable fresh produce also makes it less attractive, you have to be pretty well off to eat well in America. Interesting that people have said the healthcare is a plus but not mentioned the cost of insurance or that it does not cover certain things. I also found that everything is strangely medicalised there and generally doctors are very quick to prescribe medication when lifestyle changes would be more beneficial. Everyone seems to be rattling with pills or super hardcore healthy there is nothing in between. Medication of course also costs money and the whole relationship between insurers, healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies is deeply messed up. Also the rich v poor is far more heightened and the focus on social status- your job, how big your house is, and what car you drive really matters more than it does here.

@FKATyes but they work and live in the neighbourhoods where people in crisis are walking around. They just ignore it. I found it shocking. Like a zombie movie.

What i'd give to live in a New York Skyscraper omg

I moved UK -> US in 2024 and it’s going great so far.

There’s so much ill informed nonsense about the US from outside the US. Things that surprise most people:

• I get more annual leave here than in the UK on account of my company’s unlimited annual leave model (very common in the US)
• Fully paid maternity leave is 24 weeks. The equivalent of SMP in my State is much higher ($1200 a week). My company in the UK offered 22 weeks paid leave and SMP is a pittance (unless this has changed in the last couple of years)
• Healthcare is much, much better. It covers things my private health insurance in the UK didn’t cover such as contact lenses, yearly OBGYN check-up, $40,000 towards fertility treatments, etc.
• People are friendlier, more positive, have a can-do attitude and moaning is not a national sport.
• Pay is higher / lower taxes which means more disposable income.
• It’s an incredibly diverse country and I love being able to hop on a 2-hour flight in the depths of East Coast winter and be on a beach in 30 degree weather. I had to travel much further to get winter sun when living in London. I’m also a couple hours drive from ski resorts and spontaneous ski weekends are one of my favourite things to do in winter.

Salary, taxes business, investment opportunity and the can do let's make something attitude.

I work for a US investment bank and know lots of people who’ve made sideways moves to the US. They all feel better off with a better quality of life.