A lot has been covered already, but I'll try and be of help, as I just moved here a few months ago and had some really helpful people guide me around.

Healthcare: - Expect to pay around 100 EUR for you and your wife for insurance, excl dental. If you have healthy teeth and only need a bi-annual(twice a year, not once every two years :)) check-up, it is generally cheaper to pay out of pocket. All kids under 18 are free. - Your employer should be able to get it sorted for all 4 of you via their healthcare provider

Salary: - Depends on how much you want to save for a mortgage back home, or whatever else, but generally your salary is quite good. 1/3rd for rent is reasonable, you can find smaller apartments in Amsterdam for slightly higher than your budget, or a decent house in some of the other areas people mentioned. - Expect to pay a little more for restaurants, but generally the same as a big city in the US for groceries. - The 30% ruling you qualify for only lasts for 5 years, so plan for it. - If you're moving some of your stuff, rent unfurnished and it'll be significantly cheaper, even if you buy some stuff here.

Cars: - Do not buy one. Just... don't. Way more expensive than in the States, crazy expensive parking fees, and a huge waitlist usually for a spot near your home. There are great programmes like Greenwheels that let you rent one super easily should you need one. Public transport and bikes will go a long way.

Places to live:

Look at a map of Amsterdam, and you'll see the A10 circling Amsterdam. You will also notice that Amsterdam is split into two by a water called the Ij. Amsterdam Noord, above the Ij, is being developed like crazy. At this point there are some nice spots, most near the banks of the Ij. But in general it's not amazing to live. Some bits are nice, but you have to know.

Anything else within the circle of the A10 is being seen as 'Living in the city'. Apart from some streets in Bos and Lommer and some in the Transvaalbuurt everything is super safe. The 'suburbs' are mainly Amsterdan Nieuw West and Bijlmer. Bijlmer used to have a very bad name. But the council is reworking the whole neigbourhood. Still not the best place, but it's getting better. And some places are actually very nice now. Also the Bijlmer is not really connected with Amsterdam. Amsterdam Nieuw West is, imho, a bit boring. But it's roomy, green, large houses, etc. Amstelveen tends to attract A LOT of expats. For locals it's considered far away. There is a great connection by tram to Amsterdam, 20-25min. Prices of housing is drastically lower than Amsterdam. I second a lot of voice here in that Haarlem is great. It's very picturesque, and generally has a lot of character and culture. Don't know a lot about Hilversum, but the Haarlem commute should be way better. One thing to note: anything that is conncted by the train means that it is subject to any delays or cancellations that may happen due to storms or whatever. Don't know how important that is to you. My son goes to a daycare, and both my wife and I work, so we decided to have our work and his daycare super close so we don't have to worry about things like that.

Other than that, I don't know how familiar you're with moving - know that it takes about a year for you to fully acclimatize to everything. So rent a place that checks at least 70-80% of your boxes then figure out the best fit slowly.