The most expensive is a proxy for job creation (see Atlantic article) and social mobility in the current economy: &quot;the San Francisco-San Jose area has a better record of social mobility than just about any region in the country, according to Harvard economist Raj Chetty. In other words, a variety of factors make it the best place for young person to work his or her way into the middle class and beyond.&quot;<p>You can repeat the experiment on other job-creating cities like New York, Boston, or San Jose. Or scale back to &quot;cheap&quot; Oakland (median rent ~2100) and it still looks terrible.<p>Let&#x27;s compare just unemployment insurance between the US and Germany. Similar cases can be made for health care, pensions, time off, public&#x2F;social housing, and even college funding. This doesn&#x27;t even include things the US doesn&#x27;t have at all, like Kuzarbeit.<p>US: maximum 99 weeks during the crisis, now back down to 26 weeks in most places<p>Germany: &quot;benefit recipients aged 50 to 54 now receive an unemployment benefit for 15 months, those 55 to 57 for 18 months and those 58 or older receive benefits for 24 months. For those under the age of 50 who have not been employed for more than 30 months in a job which paid into the social security scheme, full unemployment benefit can be received for a maximum period of 12 months&quot; then &quot;If a worker is not eligible for the full unemployment benefits or after receiving the full unemployment benefit for the maximum of 12 months, he is able to apply for benefits from the so-called Arbeitslosengeld II (Hartz IV) programme, an open-ended welfare programme which, unlike the US system, ensures people do not fall into penury. A person receiving Hartz IV benefits is paid 399 EUR (2015) a month for living expenses plus the cost of adequate housing (including heating) and health care.&quot;<p>Perform the same comparison between the US and Sweden (with multiple levels of UI, followed by the Job and development guarantee), Austria (unemployment assistance is payable for one year (52 weeks) and may be extended ‘indefinitely’ by application, provided that the qualifying conditions are fulfilled), Denmark (90% of their average earnings for up to four years), or the west&#x2F;north European country of your choice and you come up with similarly large contrasts. When you start putting those together with their health care, housing, and more general welfare programs, the differences are not small at all.