You could not compare US/EU pays. The tax system and the benefits vary widely.
For example in France: a salary of 50k€/year like me, you should add 30% of tax paid by the compagny you would have paid from your own salary in US.
This salary is brut. You could retire 20% of direct tax on it. So it give a ~3000€ net by month.
Benefits paid by tax: - health insurance (70% rembursment for standard care like a flu, 100% for emergency or expensive care) - retirements (vary in function of the employment status, but count 60% of the 10years best salaries) - job insurance (6month to 80% of the previous salary, from memory, need to check)
All of this you have to pay from your US salary. If you want to compare a US salaty with an european one, you have to factor all the social benefits you would have to pay in US.