- higher salaries
- electronics, groceries, cars etc are all much cheaper
- lower rent if you compare towns and cities of similar sizes
- world leaders in computing for the past 50 years
Have you been to NZ? Why do you think it's so great? Do you like poorly built, overpriced housing, expensive groceries, lower wages and anti-American sentiment?
I think getting paid by an American company but working remotely and living in NZ or Oz might be the holy grail.
Portland, Oregon might be the closest counterexample that comes to mind, but it is an order of magnitude bigger — population of the greater metropolitan area is 2.4 million.
There is a fair amount of inexpensive housing here but not in areas with the same cultural values. (Perhaps Wellingotn wasn't the best example, but it's in the only NZ city I've been to firsthand.)
Feel free to shoot me an email (in profile) if you'd like to discuss more.