Want to live and work in the United States?

The United States is the third most populous country on the planet. The population is multiracial: white, Hispanic/Latino, African American, Asian, and Indigenous people coexist in varying proportions across each state. California, Texas, and Florida have a strong Latino presence. New York and New Jersey receive immigrants from practically every continent. The Midwest and rural South tend to be less diverse.

The largest immigrant communities are Mexican, Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Salvadoran, Cuban, Dominican, Korean, and Guatemalan. Large Latino communities live in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, and New York. Asians have a strong presence in Silicon Valley, Seattle, and the greater New York area. Recent European immigration hubs are concentrated in Boston and Chicago.

English is the language used in daily life, but Spanish is spoken by more than 40 million people and appears on labels, public services, and customer support. In some parts of Florida, Texas, and California it is possible to live almost entirely in Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, or Arabic in the first months. For long-term integration, English is essential.

The United States has the world's largest labor market, with around 167 million people in the workforce. The historical unemployment rate ranges between 3.5% and 5%. Sectors with the highest demand include technology (software engineering, data science, AI), healthcare (nursing, medicine, pharmacy), finance (Wall Street, fintech), engineering, education, and logistics.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, but most states practice much higher rates. California, Washington, and New York have minimums above $15 per hour. The average annual salary is around $65,000, but technology professionals in Silicon Valley easily exceed $150,000. Registered nurses earn between $75,000 and $110,000 per year, and specialist physicians earn $250,000 and above.

The system is at-will: employers can terminate without cause, and employees can resign at any time. Benefits vary by company, but health insurance, 401(k) (retirement), and PTO (paid time off) are standard in formal positions. For immigrants, H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, and EB-2/EB-3 visas are the most common paths to employer-sponsored work.

The United States does not have a universal free public system. Medicare (for adults 65 and older), Medicaid (for low-income individuals), and CHIP (for children in low-income families) exist. Most Americans have health insurance through their employer, with premiums split between the company and the employee.

Some of the world's best hospitals are here: Mayo Clinic (Minnesota), Cleveland Clinic (Ohio), Johns Hopkins (Maryland), Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston), and UCLA Medical Center. The cost of childbirth without insurance can exceed $15,000, and an emergency room visit can easily reach $2,000. Health insurance is therefore not optional: it is financial protection.

For newly arrived immigrants, the first step is to understand the insurance offered by their employer or to purchase a plan through the Marketplace (HealthCare.gov). Immigrant communities typically share lists of doctors who see patients in Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi, or Arabic, and community health centers serve low-income families regardless of immigration status.

The United States exports culture to the entire world: Hollywood produces most of the films screened globally, and American music (jazz, blues, rock, hip-hop, country, pop) is a worldwide reference. The main sports are American football (NFL, with the Super Bowl in February), basketball (NBA), baseball (MLB), and ice hockey (NHL). College football mobilizes entire states, especially in the South.

The cuisine varies greatly by region. In the South, barbecue, fried chicken, and soul food are traditions. New Orleans (Louisiana) has Creole and Cajun influence (gumbo, jambalaya). Tex-Mex and BBQ are strong in Texas. New York and Chicago each have their own versions of pizza. California pioneered farm-to-table food and sushi fusion. The Midwest preserves farmhouse cooking, with meats and pies.

The holidays that bring families together are Thanksgiving (the last Thursday of November, with turkey), Christmas (December 25), Independence Day (July 4, with barbecues and fireworks), Memorial Day, and Labor Day. Halloween (October 31) is taken seriously, with costumes and home decorations. In many areas there are ethnic festivals (Irish Saint Patrick's Day, Chinese Lunar New Year, Mexican Cinco de Mayo).

The United States covers 9.6 million km², from the Atlantic to the Pacific, plus Alaska (glacial north) and Hawaii (tropical archipelago in the Pacific). The East Coast has the Appalachian Mountains, coastal plains, and historic cities. The center of the country is dominated by the Great Plains, with intensive agricultural production. The Rocky Mountains cross the west, with peaks above 4,000 meters in Colorado and Wyoming.

The Southwest has spectacular deserts (Mojave, Sonora, Chihuahua) and national parks including the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, and Arches. California mixes beaches, desert, redwoods, and the Sierra Nevada. The Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon) has temperate rainforests. The South has a warm, humid climate, with Louisiana bayous and Florida's Everglades.

The Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario) form the largest surface freshwater reserve on the planet, on the border with Canada. The Mississippi River runs through the country from north to south. Alaska has glaciers, active volcanoes, and tundra. Hawaii is volcanic, with a tropical climate year-round. Hurricanes strike the Gulf and Atlantic coasts from June to November, and tornadoes are frequent in the so-called Tornado Alley.

The most common paths to legally living in the United States are temporary work visas (H-1B for specialty occupations, L-1 for intracompany transfers, O-1 for extraordinary ability, TN for Canadians and Mexicans under NAFTA/USMCA), investor visas (E-2 for treaty commerce, EB-5 for investments starting at $800,000 with job creation), and employment-based green cards (EB-1, EB-2, EB-2 NIW for national interest, EB-3).

Family visas include IR-1 and CR-1 (spouse of a US citizen), K-1 (fiancé/fiancée), IR-2 and IR-5 (children and parents of citizens), and F categories for more distant relatives. The F-1 visa covers students at accredited universities, with the possibility of OPT (Optional Practical Training) after graduation. The J-1 serves exchange visitors, researchers, and au pairs.

The Green Card is permanent residency. After 5 years with a Green Card (or 3 years if married to a US citizen), the resident can apply for naturalization and become a US citizen. US citizenship allows a blue passport, the right to vote in federal elections, and the ability to sponsor relatives to come and live legally. The United States is not part of an E-1/E-2 treaty with itself -- it is the country that grants those visas based on treaties with other nations.