Switzerland
Latest Average Wage
+7.1% · 5 years
$92,285
Country Comparison
Switzerland vs United States
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Switzerland
vs
United States
$92,2852025
Latest Average Wage
Switzerland +6.1%
(vs United States)
$86,9772025
+7.1%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Switzerland +5.0 pts
(vs United States)
+2.1%2025
+5.8%2025
10-Year Wage Change
United States +7.2 pts
(vs Switzerland)
+13.0%2025
1192024
Overall Price Level
Switzerland +19.0 index points
(vs United States)
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
Switzerland
10 Years Ago
$87,262 (2015)
Historical Peak
$92,285 (2025)
Latest Wage
$92,285 (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
Switzerland (CHE)United States (USA)
Overall
+19.0 index points
100
119vs100
Food
+37.0 index points
100
137vs100
Clothing
+23.0 index points
100
123vs100
Housing
+19.0 index points
100
119vs100
Health
−5.5 index points
100
94.5vs100
Transport
+34.0 index points
100
134vs100
Recreation
+36.0 index points
100
136vs100
Restaurants & Accommodation
+40.0 index points
100
140vs100
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Switzerland's latest average wage is $92,285 for 2025, about 6.1% higher than United States' $86,977 for 2025 — a percentage worked out directly from the two reported figures. In annual terms the gap comes to about $5,308 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 +0.1% for Switzerland. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Switzerland at +7.1% 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
Restaurants & Accommodation shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 140 for Switzerland against 100 for United States. That is a separation of 40.0 index points on the US=100 scale, with Switzerland on the higher side and United States on the lower one. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Health: Switzerland reads 94.5 and United States 100 for 2024, just 5.5 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Housing at 19.0 index points apart. Two readings this close mean the category sits at nearly the same point of the US=100 scale for both.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Switzerland's latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $92,285 for 2025, moderately higher than United States' $86,977 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 6.1% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $5,308 a year on the same purchasing-power basis. Because both values already sit on the same USD PPP, constant-2025-price footing, the comparison adjusts for price-level differences between the two economies. 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 Switzerland recorded +5.8% 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. Switzerland sits at the highest point of its series — $92,285 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +5.8%. 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%. Switzerland's five-year change of +7.1% 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
Switzerland's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 119, and United States' reads 100, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: Switzerland sits higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories. Restaurants & Accommodation separates the two most: Switzerland reads 140 and United States 100, 40.0 index points apart. The two sit closest in Health (94.5 versus 100), only 5.5 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 7 of Switzerland'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.
