As always,it depends. I guess by mentioning midwest,you go with a notion that it's not a hcol area. The unlimited vacation & sick time probably also means a pretty decent white collar job.
It's difficult to compare with Europe,as one unit, as it's as varied as the US is. There are quite a few countries in Europe, where I'd happily take whatever your the associates are making at your firm and I'd have amazing,high quality life with very little to worry about. Alternatively, if I go to London,or Zurich, most salaries would feel like pocket change.
The other aspect,what in my opinion keeps tab on salaries in Europe, is the sheer volume of available quality candidates for jobs. There are tons of people with exceptional education. Not so long time ago, we used to have a running joke back home that why would anyone hire a cleaner without a masters degree?It also used to be a default option to only hire secretaries that only had double masters.
You'd be surprised. For 99% of people such legislation is beneficial+ it came to be like that not without good reasons. Here,in the UK, I sometimes have to interact with our customers who can't get a few days off whenever they need and usually need to plan many months ahead, just because their employees can't organise work better. Imagine how much holiday these people would have,if such legislation is removed all together.
And we have unlimited vacation & sick time, so I'm not sure what advantage the 28 holiday thing is.
I completely agree that the U.S. is better suited for high income earners.