France
Latest Average Wage
+3.7% · 5 years
$60,483
Country Comparison
France vs United States
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
France
vs
United States
$60,4832025
Latest Average Wage
United States +43.8%
(vs France)
$86,9772025
+3.7%2025
5-Year Wage Change
France +1.6 pts
(vs United States)
+2.1%2025
+1.7%2025
10-Year Wage Change
United States +11.3 pts
(vs France)
+13.0%2025
70.42024
Overall Price Level
United States +29.6 index points
(vs France)
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
France
10 Years Ago
$59,485 (2015)
Historical Peak
$61,289 (2019)
Latest Wage
$60,483 (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
France (FRA)United States (USA)
Overall
−29.6 index points
100
70.4vs100
Food
−6.6 index points
100
93.4vs100
Clothing
−13.9 index points
100
86.1vs100
Housing
−31.7 index points
100
68.3vs100
Health
−56.6 index points
100
43.4vs100
Transport
+14.0 index points
100
114vs100
Recreation
−17.8 index points
100
82.2vs100
Restaurants & Accommodation
−9.9 index points
100
90.1vs100
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United States' latest average wage is $86,977 for 2025, about 43.8% higher than France's $60,483 for 2025 — a percentage worked out directly from the two reported figures. In annual terms the gap comes to about $26,494 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 +1.0% for France. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — France at +3.7% 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: 43.4 for France against 100 for United States. That is a separation of 56.6 index points on the US=100 scale, with United States on the higher side and France on the lower one. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Food: France reads 93.4 and United States 100 for 2024, just 6.6 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Restaurants & Accommodation at 9.9 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Few pairings separate this cleanly — United States' latest average wage of $86,977 for 2025 stands well above France's $60,483 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 43.8% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $26,494 a year. 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 France recorded +1.7% 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. France stands just below its historical high of $61,289 in 2019, only 1.3% away, with a ten-year change of +1.7%. 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: +3.7% for France against +2.1% for United States, 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
France's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 70.4, and United States' reads 100, each measured against the United States reference of 100. United States reads higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories, so the price profile leans consistently to one side. The widest separation is in Health: 43.4 for France against 100 for United States, a gap of 56.6 index points. At the other end, Food brings the two closest — 93.4 versus 100, a gap of just 6.6 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, France reads above 100 in 1 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.
