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In San Francisco, I was actually employed and in something vaguely resembling my "field." But then, I went to San Francisco State. For that reason, for some purposes, people don't even consider me to be "Canadian" even though I was born in Saskatchewan and grew up in Vancouver.
In San Francisco I was actually employed. Or keeping the temp work coming from the agencies. Back here in Canada I can't get a darn thing!!
The job market is different. That's one reason. Americans do not have a welfare state to fall back on like most provinces up here do, so there is more incentive to find and KEEP work. I think employers don't ignore applications in the overwhelming way they seem to up here for that reason.
If I pounded the pavement as hard as I have been doing the past 2 years back here in Canada, and pestered the temp agencies the way I do up here (the same agencies, as a matter of fact. Kelly Services!) back in San Francisco, I'd not only have had relatively steady temp work but maybe even something in my field by now!
The short answer is HELL YES! Because you are simply more likely to be WORKING and not relying on a barely $500-something a month Welfare check!!
Krevata,
Using marginal tax rates like this always leads to some misleading examples. By comaprison, following your logic, a Dentist in Texas making 100,000-150,000 per year would face a 39% marginal federal income tax rate, 15.9% for Social security and Medicaid and 8.25% local sales tax, for a combined tax rate of 63.15%!!! Which means Texans are much more taxed than you are (ROTFL).
I hate to be nit-picky, but in order to make comparisons like the ones you just made, you have to adjust for all taxes and for the incidence of tax. For example, adding the sales tax rate to the income tax rate is flawed thinking as you don't pay sales tax on everything you buy (even in Ontario, which I've been to plenty of times, even living there for a few months...at least, I remember some things not getting taxed, like grocery food items. Maybe this has changed?).
It sounds though that you are very frustrated with living in Ontario. I hope things get better for you soon.
You need a specific comparison? I'll give you mine. I'm considering a job in Denver with the same company. Fort McMurray Alberta, the average income is $80,000 and I make $110,000. But in Denver the average salary is $30,000 and if I go I can expect to make the same or more but in American dollars. Housing prices are less in Denver also, but it's the step down in health care, the education and the crime that worries me most. If you go to the IRS website you can view the tax brackets. I think when you throw the health care costs in it's pretty close. I might give it a try though. Who knows I might like it. If not I'll move back up north. No biggie!
I'm expecting a job offer from a Toronto company shortly, and I want to try and get an educated opinion on what my taxes will cost me. If any of you who posted in this thread previously can recomend an account in the Detroit, Windsor, or Toronto areas please PM me their info! I'd like to talk to an accountant who deals with both US and CA taxes before I take the job so I know what I'm getting into. Thanks.
When the exchange rate was much further apart Canadian vs USA, the folks north of the border had an effectively lower pay scale.
Now that the exchange has shot up to almost even, the Canadians are doing better for a lot of jobs where the numbers are comparable to what they'd be earning in the USA.
However, there is no capital gains tax on your principal residence when that residence is sold. That means you can buy a house for 100K, live in it for a couple of years, sell it for 200K and pay no tax on the gain.
First, I think the "per capita" stats are not exactly accurate. The US has something like 200+ billionaires... along with the many "half-billionaires", mere $20 millionaires, etc, they've got to inflate the average earnings a bit.
I did some research on this a while ago and what I found was that if you make under $100,000 a year, you are better off in Canada. The taxes are about 5% more in Canada, but the better pension, health care, lower overall living costs, etc make it a better choice. If you are making a lot more money, Canada's higher progressive taxes hit you harder, and you don't get anything extra in terms of health care or pension. Since the US has lower progressive taxes (and the 15% in Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid taxes are not charged on income over about $95,000) you are better off in the US.
Also, Canada has lower crime, a generally better public education system, etc. If you have lots of $$$ in the US though, you can "spend" your way out of those problems (private school, gated community, etc).
That all seems to coincide with previous posts, too. Doctors and I.T. folks tend to be the high $$ earners, and those are the most likely Canadians to come to the US.
To sum it up, the US is a better system for rich folks, Canada is a better system for "average" folks.
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i found overall its better then washington state
It all depends on what you make
