Employees have to pay for basically everything in the US, so salaries have to be a lot higher here. School, childcare, healthcare, retirement, you name it. Also, all those things are more expensive here because they’re provided by companies that need to make a profit. It sucks.

Listed salaries are almost always what the employee pays, not what it costs the company. In the US, this includes the payroll tax, and cost of “benefits,” like healthcare and unemployment insurance, and is referred to as the burdened rate. This is separate from the income tax the employee has to pay to the government, mind you.

The burdened rate for most employees at the companies I’ve worked for in the US is like 20-50% higher than the salary paid. Not sure exactly how it works in France, but I do know there’s a pretty complex payroll tax companies have to pay. I think it’s something like 40% at the salary you quoted.