Makes me feel bad also, until I think of the living costs in US big cities. I would really like to see an European version of this thread. Probably the bar would be set somewhere around EUR 100k?
The living costs of some Canadian cities are also very high. Both Vancouver and Toronto are currently experiencing a housing bubble that has made housing extremely expensive. At this point a software engineer in Vancouver is certainly priced out of being able to own a detached home. It is unlikely a duplex or townhouse would be affordable either.
About £500/day is fairly common in London for contractors.
Well, except for London or Switzerland then definitely 100k should be the benchmark.