Denmark
Latest Average Wage
+1.6% · 5 years
$78,090
Country Comparison
Denmark vs United States
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Denmark
vs
United States
$78,0902025
Latest Average Wage
United States +11.4%
(vs Denmark)
$86,9772025
+1.6%2025
5-Year Wage Change
United States +0.5 pts
(vs Denmark)
+2.1%2025
+6.9%2025
10-Year Wage Change
United States +6.0 pts
(vs Denmark)
+13.0%2025
92.12024
Overall Price Level
United States +7.9 index points
(vs Denmark)
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
Denmark
10 Years Ago
$73,026 (2015)
Historical Peak
$78,090 (2025)
Latest Wage
$78,090 (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
Denmark (DNK)United States (USA)
Overall
−7.9 index points
100
92.1vs100
Food
+2.0 index points
100
102vs100
Clothing
+19.0 index points
100
119vs100
Housing
−5.7 index points
100
94.3vs100
Health
−36.0 index points
100
64vs100
Transport
+30.0 index points
100
130vs100
Recreation
+14.0 index points
100
114vs100
Restaurants & Accommodation
+23.0 index points
100
123vs100
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United States' latest average wage is $86,977 for 2025, about 11.4% higher than Denmark's $78,090 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $8,887 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 +0.3% for Denmark. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +2.1% against +1.6%. 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: 64 for Denmark against 100 for United States. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 36.0 index points apart, United States above Denmark. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Food: Denmark reads 102 and United States 100 for 2024, just 2.0 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Housing at 5.7 index points apart. Closeness here describes the index readings only, not the baskets behind them.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
United States' latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $86,977 for 2025, moderately higher than Denmark's $78,090 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 11.4% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $8,887 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 Denmark recorded +6.9% and United States +13.0%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
The five-year direction is shared here: both series rise, with different momentum on each side. Denmark sits at the highest point of its series — $78,090 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +6.9%. 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 shared direction still leaves room for different speeds: +2.1% for United States against +1.6% for Denmark, so the distance between the two levels keeps shifting. All changes here are measured in real, PPP-adjusted terms, so they describe purchasing-power movement rather than nominal pay increases.
Price Profile
Denmark's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 92.1, and United States' reads 100, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Denmark leads in 5 of the 8 comparable categories and United States in 3, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. The widest separation is in Health: 64 for Denmark against 100 for United States, a gap of 36.0 index points. At the other end, Food brings the two closest — 102 versus 100, a gap of just 2.0 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Denmark reads above 100 in 5 of its 8 reported categories, and United States in 0 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
