Since you are from the US, if you come to Europe you might struggle to be satisfied with your pay, unless you are high management or you have very specific, hard to find skills. And even this varies a lot within the EU.
I’m originally from Slovenia, but moved to Malta 8 years ago to follow a new career path. Economy wise Malta is pretty solid. Sure there is corruption, like everywhere else, but here it’s maybe a bit more out in the open. There is almost no homeless people, even if for the past 10 years there has been a massive influx of economic migrants from Africa and from the East. There is a weird combination of history, religion and laws in place. All in all Malta is VERY Christian Catholic, so abortion is banned. But then big game gambling is legal, and so is recreational Marijuana use. The language is semitic, but written in latin characters. There is a strong historic UK vibe, with some French, Italian, Arabic and Spanish thrown in. English is one of the official languages. It consists of three Islands, two of which are populated. There is only two political parties, Nationalist and Labour (currently in place, and has been for a few mandates). There is too many cars, and the whole infrastructure makes it hard to walk anywhere. Forget bicycles. A car is nice to have even if it seems so small you could walk anywhere. (I need to add here, that if you go to the countryside, there is plenty places to walk, but in the populated space, infrastructure is not really that great for pedestrians). There are some beautiful and historic places on the island, but there is not a lot of nature. Overall I feel like home here now, but am one of the rare northern Europeans who stay long. The main issues are less green nature, really hot summers, and a bit of an anarchic societal tendency (not too much enforcement of anything). I enjoy all those points to a large degree (I like the rock and the sea). I especially enjoy 300 sunny days per year and 8 months of basically summer, with short, green and never snowy winters. And, again, the economy is solid (for now). The music scene is hollow, most people just chugging on commercial or hard techno. however, there is an empty spot within the underground movements, so a lot of potential to actually invent if you have the will and time. I mostly just do music for myself and enjoy very much when I take my portable gear to the cliffs, beach or some nice historic spots.
On the other hand Slovenia is beautiful, quite well organised and clean, but it is not as friendly to expats, mainly because of language difficulties. Pay is also worse and it is not as friendly to capitalistic interest… read; not very appealing to business, because of the way tax works and what types of work contracts are available. Also, politically very polarised, which you might be familiar with in the US. I prefer to live in Malta and visit my home country to see friends, family and nature. Or they come to see me and enjoy the sun!
I know people around the globe with a lot in Europe, so I know some information first hand. If you go to Spain look at the Asturias area, Leon and so on. Beautiful, amazing food, close to the ocean, and mountains and living prices are cheaper. Work economy is not that great though (but getting stronger). Maybe Madrid would be your best option. The metro is great, and there is a fast train connection to best points in Spain. I am actually considering to move there in some years.
Portugal is also good. I love Porto and Lisbon. Countryside is beautiful too! But… the work economy sucks.
Cyprus is another option with solid economy.
Other parts of EU are too cold for my tastes, but Germany is cool to live in otherwise, as are most of the nordic countries. Ireland as well.
Italy can be nice, but overall don’t think it’s the best place for expats.
France same-same, but as a US American you shouldn’t have too many issues.
