The thing is, you earn less on paper than in the US, but your total cost of living (and thus, your "available" income) is way lower, too:
- healthcare is cheap and universally available, no need to stuff away money in HSAs to account for a sudden 100k$ bill from a broken leg or a million dollar bill from cancer
- public education for your children is free, you don't need to pay for private schools or (later on) for university
- housing costs are drastically lower than the US
- no need to stuff away money for pension because we actually have working government-backed pensions
- way less commute expenses - we tend to have working public transport and even if you commute by car, the distances involved are way less
- we have government-mandated vacation time - at the least 20 days a year, most employers offer around the 30 day range - and unlimited as-needed sick time, which also means you don't have to stuff away money for unpaid time off.