Colombia
Latest Average Wage
−3.9% · 5 years
$30,133
Country Comparison
Colombia vs United States
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Colombia
vs
United States
$30,1332024
Latest Average Wage
United States +188.6%
(vs Colombia)
$86,9772025
−3.9%2024
5-Year Wage Change
United States +6.0 pts
(vs Colombia)
+2.1%2025
+2.4%2024
10-Year Wage Change
United States +10.6 pts
(vs Colombia)
+13.0%2025
32.62024
Overall Price Level
United States +67.4 index points
(vs Colombia)
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
Colombia
10 Years Ago
$29,443 (2014)
Historical Peak
$35,659 (2020)
Latest Wage
$30,133 (2024)
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
Colombia (COL)United States (USA)
Overall
−67.4 index points
100
32.6vs100
Food
−34.6 index points
100
65.4vs100
Clothing
−39.6 index points
100
60.4vs100
Housing
−73.4 index points
100
26.6vs100
Health
−81.4 index points
100
18.6vs100
Transport
−50.2 index points
100
49.8vs100
Recreation
−52.2 index points
100
47.8vs100
Restaurants & Accommodation
−59.5 index points
100
40.5vs100
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United States' latest average wage is $86,977 for 2025, about 188.6% higher than Colombia's $30,133 for 2024 — computed straight from the two reported values. Per year, that works out to roughly $56,844 on the shared purchasing-power basis. The two figures come from different reference years.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Colombia shows the stronger movement at +1.9%, against +1.7% for United States. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Colombia at −3.9% 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
Health shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 18.6 for Colombia against 100 for United States. United States sits on the higher side of that 81.4-point spread; Colombia reads 81.4 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 Food: Colombia reads 65.4 and United States 100 for 2024, just 34.6 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Clothing at 39.6 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
The wage levels in this pairing are far apart: United States reports $86,977 for 2025, while Colombia reports $30,133 for 2024. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 188.6% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $56,844 a year. 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 Colombia recorded +2.4% and United States +13.0%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
The two wage series are currently moving in opposite directions, and the separation between them is growing. Colombia is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +1.9%, though the level remains 15.5% below its peak. 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%. United States is the side gaining in real terms (+2.1% over five years), while Colombia records −3.9%, so the five-year measures point away from each other instead of converging. Each percentage is a real, PPP-adjusted change; nominal pay movements are outside what this dataset reports.
Price Profile
Colombia's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 32.6, 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 8 of the 8 comparable categories. Health separates the two most: Colombia reads 18.6 and United States 100, 81.4 index points apart. The two sit closest in Food (65.4 versus 100), only 34.6 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 0 of Colombia'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.
