Ireland
Latest Average Wage
−2.8% · 5 years
$70,113
Country Comparison
Ireland vs United States
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Ireland
vs
United States
$70,1132025
Latest Average Wage
United States +24.1%
(vs Ireland)
$86,9772025
−2.8%2025
5-Year Wage Change
United States +4.9 pts
(vs Ireland)
+2.1%2025
+4.6%2025
10-Year Wage Change
United States +8.4 pts
(vs Ireland)
+13.0%2025
92.22024
Overall Price Level
United States +7.8 index points
(vs Ireland)
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
Ireland
10 Years Ago
$67,039 (2015)
Historical Peak
$72,356 (2021)
Latest Wage
$70,113 (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
Ireland (IRL)United States (USA)
Overall
−7.8 index points
100
92.2vs100
Food
−1.9 index points
100
98.1vs100
Clothing
−11.3 index points
100
88.7vs100
Housing
+4.0 index points
100
104vs100
Health
−15.6 index points
100
84.4vs100
Transport
+14.0 index points
100
114vs100
Recreation
−8.0 index points
100
92vs100
Restaurants & Accommodation
+5.0 index points
100
105vs100
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United States' latest average wage is $86,977 for 2025, about 24.1% higher than Ireland's $70,113 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. That is roughly $16,864 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Ireland shows the stronger movement at +1.8%, against +1.7% for United States. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Ireland at −2.8% 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: 84.4 for Ireland against 100 for United States. United States sits on the higher side of that 15.6-point spread; Ireland reads 15.6 index points lower on the US=100 scale. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Food: Ireland reads 98.1 and United States 100 for 2024, just 1.9 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Housing at 4.0 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
A clear separation shows in the latest wage figures — United States at $86,977 for 2025, and Ireland at $70,113 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 24.1% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $16,864 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.
Wage Direction
This pairing shows two wage paths pulling apart rather than tracking each other. Ireland is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +1.8%, though the level remains 3.1% 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%. With United States gaining in real terms at +2.1% over five years and Ireland at −2.8%, the five-year measures move away from each other rather than closing in. All changes here are measured in real, PPP-adjusted terms, so they describe purchasing-power movement rather than nominal pay increases.
Price Profile
Ireland's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 92.2, and United States' reads 100, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Ireland leads in 3 of the 8 comparable categories and United States in 5, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. The widest separation is in Health: 84.4 for Ireland against 100 for United States, a gap of 15.6 index points. At the other end, Food brings the two closest — 98.1 versus 100, a gap of just 1.9 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Ireland reads above 100 in 3 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.
