Canada
Latest Average Wage
−0.3% · 5 years
$67,901
Country Comparison
Canada vs United States
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Canada
vs
United States
$67,9012025
Latest Average Wage
United States +28.1%
(vs Canada)
$86,9772025
−0.3%2025
5-Year Wage Change
United States +2.4 pts
(vs Canada)
+2.1%2025
+5.0%2025
10-Year Wage Change
United States +8.0 pts
(vs Canada)
+13.0%2025
862024
Overall Price Level
United States +14.0 index points
(vs Canada)
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
Canada
10 Years Ago
$64,667 (2015)
Historical Peak
$68,434 (2021)
Latest Wage
$67,901 (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
Canada (CAN)United States (USA)
Overall
−14.0 index points
100
86vs100
Food
+8.0 index points
100
108vs100
Clothing
+18.0 index points
100
118vs100
Housing
−16.9 index points
100
83.1vs100
Health
−37.8 index points
100
62.2vs100
Transport
+3.0 index points
100
103vs100
Recreation
−8.0 index points
100
92vs100
Restaurants & Accommodation
−2.4 index points
100
97.6vs100
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United States' latest average wage is $86,977 for 2025, about 28.1% higher than Canada's $67,901 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. That is roughly $19,077 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, United States shows the stronger movement at +1.7%, against +0.2% for Canada. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +2.1% against −0.3%. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Health shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 62.2 for Canada against 100 for United States. United States sits on the higher side of that 37.8-point spread; Canada reads 37.8 index points lower on the US=100 scale. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Restaurants & Accommodation: Canada reads 97.6 and United States 100 for 2024, just 2.4 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Transport at 3.0 index points apart. Closeness here describes the index readings only, not the baskets behind them.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
United States holds a clear wage lead in this pairing: $86,977 for 2025, against Canada's $67,901 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 28.1% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $19,077 a year. Both figures are expressed in USD PPP at constant 2025 prices, so they can be set side by side without any further conversion. 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 Canada recorded +5.0% and United States +13.0%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
The two wage series do not point the same way across the reported horizons. Canada stands just below its historical high of $68,434 in 2021, only 0.8% away, with a ten-year change of +5.0%. 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%. The five-year changes — −0.3% for Canada, +2.1% for United States — resist a single-trend summary and are clearer read side by side. Each percentage is a real, PPP-adjusted change; nominal pay movements are outside what this dataset reports.
Price Profile
Canada's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 86, and United States' reads 100, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Canada leads in 3 of the 8 comparable categories and United States in 5, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. Health separates the two most: Canada reads 62.2 and United States 100, 37.8 index points apart. The two sit closest in Restaurants & Accommodation (97.6 versus 100), only 2.4 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 3 of Canada's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 0 of United States' 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
