Austria
Latest Average Wage
+3.3% · 5 years
$78,301
Country Comparison
Austria vs United States
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Austria
vs
United States
$78,3012025
Latest Average Wage
United States +11.1%
(vs Austria)
$86,9772025
+3.3%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Austria +1.1 pts
(vs United States)
+2.1%2025
+5.5%2025
10-Year Wage Change
United States +7.4 pts
(vs Austria)
+13.0%2025
77.12024
Overall Price Level
United States +22.9 index points
(vs Austria)
1002024
Wages are PPP-adjusted average annual wages; price levels use the United States reference of 100. Years shown are each country's latest reported observation.
How Wages Have Changed
Follow PPP-adjusted average annual wages in constant prices across both economies.
USD PPP, constant prices · missing years shown as gaps, never interpolated
United States
Latest Average Wage
+2.1% · 5 years
$86,977
Wage Milestones
Austria
10 Years Ago
$74,198 (2015)
Historical Peak
$78,301 (2025)
Latest Wage
$78,301 (2025)
United States
10 Years Ago
$76,999 (2015)
Historical Peak
$86,977 (2025)
Latest Wage
$86,977 (2025)
Compare Everyday Price Levels
See how eight consumer price categories compare with the United States reference value of 100.
United States = 100 · Differences shown in index points
Austria (AUT)United States (USA)
Overall
−22.9 index points
100
77.1vs100
Food
−6.2 index points
100
93.8vs100
Clothing
−4.8 index points
100
95.2vs100
Housing
−37.7 index points
100
62.3vs100
Health
−37.3 index points
100
62.7vs100
Transport
+15.0 index points
100
115vs100
Recreation
−4.2 index points
100
95.8vs100
Restaurants & Accommodation
−9.8 index points
100
90.2vs100
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United States' latest average wage is $86,977 for 2025, about 11.1% higher than Austria's $78,301 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. Per year, that works out to roughly $8,676 on the shared purchasing-power basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, United States shows the stronger movement at +1.7%, against +0.8% for Austria. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Austria at +3.3% and United States at +2.1% — so the latest year is not the whole story. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Housing shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 62.3 for Austria against 100 for United States. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 37.7 index points apart, United States above Austria. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Recreation: Austria reads 95.8 and United States 100 for 2024, just 4.2 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Clothing at 4.8 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
United States' latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $86,977 for 2025, moderately higher than Austria's $78,301 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 11.1% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $8,676 a year on the same purchasing-power basis. No extra conversion is needed here: each figure is already a purchasing-power-adjusted annual amount in constant prices. For scale, neither series has moved by that much within any single reported year, so the gap is structural rather than the product of one unusual observation. Over ten years Austria recorded +5.5% and United States +13.0%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
Both wage series rise over the five-year horizon, though not at the same pace. Austria sits at the highest point of its series — $78,301 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +5.5%. United States sits at the highest point of its series — $86,977 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +13.0%. Austria's five-year change of +3.3% outpaces United States' +2.1% in magnitude, so the common direction does not mean the two levels are holding a fixed distance. Each percentage is a real, PPP-adjusted change; nominal pay movements are outside what this dataset reports.
Price Profile
Austria's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 77.1, and United States' reads 100, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: United States sits higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories. Housing separates the two most: Austria reads 62.3 and United States 100, 37.7 index points apart. The two sit closest in Recreation (95.8 versus 100), only 4.2 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 1 of Austria's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 0 of United States' 8. These are index values for 2024, not currency amounts; categories without a reported value on either side are left out of the comparison.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
