if you earned the equivalent of 22k here you would most likely have free (or very cheap) health insurance through work too. seattle is one of the more expensive cities in the us. i live in portland (which at 160 or so miles away is nearby by us standards) and it is apparently 15% cheaper to live here than in seattle.

(selfish as it may be) tax as a percentage of gdp isn't really my concern here. since the top rates of income tax aren't that dissimilar (although the brackets are), but sales tax/VAT (which i believe is compounded unlike sales tax which is only applied once in the states where it exists - not this one) rates are vastly different (17.5% for you and 0% for me and around 5% for many americans), i think the tax system may well be more progressive here (actually not something i support at the ballot box, but it does benefit me).