It depends a lot on your personal situation, but if you subtract stuff you'd otherwise have to pay for, the taxes aren't that high in Scandinavia, in my experience. For example, I pay ~35% effective income tax in Denmark, but that includes my healthcare, which in the U.S. is paid for separately. When I lived in the U.S., insurance premiums came right out of my paycheck, like taxes did, another ~10% of my income taken off the top. The balance is even more favorable if you have kids: paid paternity and maternity leave, subsidized childcare, free preschool, no saving for college, are all benefits included in that tax payment.