Okay I've had enough of this europoor adjacent slop.
How do Europeans (Poles in this example) live? Differently than Americans and the prices reflect that.
Restaurants are WAY cheaper than in America. First of all, you don't have all the junk fees, tax and tip on top of the price on the menu. In San Francisco, when you see $30 for a pasta dish, it's gonna end up being closer to $50 on the final bill. In Kraków, if you see 50 zł ($13.70) for a pasta meal, it is going to be 50 zł exactly. And Poland isn't even a good example because it famously has relatively expensive restaurants compared to places like Italy or Spain.
This extends to other services, too. A flight from rainy July Kraków to sunny Italy will set you back like $50. A flight from Columbus, OH to sunny Florida will be more like $250, same to Mexico. And then when you're there, everything is more expensive, too, starting with a hotel.
Groceries are also significantly cheaper than in America if you compare like for like. I'm not going to sit here and say that every Biedronka has Whole Foods-level produce and meats but on average, groceries in Poland are comparable to middle price tier groceries at Safeway, and when you compare those together, Poland is like 2x cheaper.
Cars and fuel are more expensive but you also use them less. Not only because there's more public transportation but mostly because the distances are shorter. This isn't Phoenix where everything is 30 mins away on a freeway.
Rent is expensive but also, let's not exaggerate. Kraków is the most expensive city in Poland because it's touristy, rapidly growing, and a huge college hub. A comparable US city would be Boston. But even if you compare Kraków to Columbus or Indianapolis (undoubtedly 2/3-tier cities), rent is still cheaper. A comparable one-bedroom apartment will be $1200-1400 in those cities vs. 3000-3600 zł ($800-1000). And in Katowice, where salaries are only 10% lower than in Kraków but the city is not touristy, you're looking at 2200-2600 zł ($600-700).
Oh, and the median after-tax salary in Kraków is $1700 a month ($20,400 a year), the average is even higher. Yes, this is less than in Columbus (~$60,000, according to BLS data) but surprise surprise, Poland is a poorer country than not only the US but also Germany or France.
But there are also many things that you don't pay for in Poland that you do pay for in the US. Childcare is a big one. In an average American family unit, the mother only works so that they can afford childcare. It's free in Poland. Healthcare is free, too, and before you attack me saying "yeah but the wait time for hip replacement is long!" I'll tell you that even if you go private to get it immediately, it's gonna be cheaper in relation to your income than in the US. Public schools are good, and college is again free. You don't have to pay $500/month in your college repayment plan for 10 years after graduation. And there are also no income taxes for those under 26 years old, by the way. And speaking of income taxes, filing them is free and automatic every year, even if you have a more complicated tax situation. You don't need to spend $100 on Turbotax or a comparable service.
So again, the answer is: people just live life differently. Life in Europe (in general, also in the 2000s, when Europeans were not yet "Europoor") is less about consumption.
I discovered that when I've started traveling with my American friends. They go to Barcelona and all they do all day is running from one coffeeshop to another, from one restaurant (ideally Michelin-starred) to another. They'll see the Sagrada Familia and that's about it. A completely different (and dare I say worse) way of traveling than the European way, which is to walk the streets, see some sights, get sangria in a random bar and eat dinner in a small neighborhood cafe.
I think this is also in part a function of Europe having functional public spaces. If you don't need to worry about a crazy homeless person attacking your kids on the public playground, you don't need to have a private playground in your backyard. So yeah, while Americans are richer in terms of take-home pay, the actual, useful gap, is not that big. Europeans just don't need to spend money as much.
Genuinely don’t know how Europeans afford to live
Restaurants / grocery stores are only marginally cheaper than America
Cars fuel are much more expensive
Rent is rapidly rising to the nearly the same prices as tier 2/3 cities in America for comparable locations
The average wage here in Poland is ~1500$ a month genuinely don’t know how you would survive on that nevertheless raise a family
If you are an American you should be grateful