The Average Canadian is Now Richer than the Average American

[ohgeewhiz]

4. In the USA, minimum wage is $7.40, with no health care

no vacation, no sick leave, no maternity leave. Subtract about 10% for Social Security retirement and state taxes.

Kingston is not an inexpensive city, but try working in the USA, in, say Rochester, or Buffalo, (similar climate), and making $7.40 an hour with no health insurance. In NY state, registering and insurance for a car, (assuming you can afford one), is over $1000 a year, about 4 week's take-home pay, just for insurance and registration, not for gas.

Food costs and apartment costs are roughly the same in many upstate NY larger cities as they are in Kingston. It's no picnic here.