But is the lower cost of living actually making you "richer" with the lower pay? At least in America, the higher city pay only makes you poorer. I could make a lot more if I wanted to but my current job is really chill, I don't have to care about being right on time and worrying about being 5mins late, I can take lunch/breaks whenever I want, I can take long lunches (currently on a 2 hour lunch bread right now), the benefits are good (I pay nothing for health insurance out of my pocket, I guess it kinda does since lower pay though), I can basically do what I want when I want as long as I get my shit down. If I want/need days off, I get them without issue. I could easily be making at least 10k more a year if I wanted to doing the same work but I value other things far more than money.