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Comment by benregn | Hacker News Reader

I can't comment on what the actual average salary for a programmer in Europe is, but you have to remember that you can't just convert straight from EUR to USD and compare the amounts. You have to consider the cost of living etc. in the country you are getting the offer from compared to the cost of living where you currently live.

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Good point. For this, I would recommend Purchasing Power Parity. See the map here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchasing_power_parity

The "2003" map may not be the freshest, but it gives a rough estimate. Relative to US:

  * Canada, Australia have 90%
  * Africa typically ranges from 20% to 30%. South africa is much better, often 40%.
  * Most of Asia is 20%, sometimes lower
  * Poland is 50%
  * UK, Germany, France are around 100%
  * Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway...) are 120% (!). Japan should be around 120% too.

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