Luxembourg
Latest Average Wage
+8.3% · 5 years
$98,530
Country Comparison
Luxembourg vs United States
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Luxembourg
vs
United States
$98,5302025
Latest Average Wage
Luxembourg +13.3%
(vs United States)
$86,9772025
+8.3%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Luxembourg +6.2 pts
(vs United States)
+2.1%2025
+11.0%2025
10-Year Wage Change
United States +1.9 pts
(vs Luxembourg)
+13.0%2025
96.62024
Overall Price Level
United States +3.4 index points
(vs Luxembourg)
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
Luxembourg
10 Years Ago
$88,737 (2015)
Historical Peak
$98,530 (2025)
Latest Wage
$98,530 (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
Luxembourg (LUX)United States (USA)
Overall
−3.4 index points
100
96.6vs100
Food
+6.0 index points
100
106vs100
Clothing
−0.3 index points
100
99.7vs100
Housing
−0.6 index points
100
99.4vs100
Health
−22.9 index points
100
77.1vs100
Transport
+1.0 index points
100
101vs100
Recreation
−2.9 index points
100
97.1vs100
Restaurants & Accommodation
+1.0 index points
100
101vs100
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Luxembourg's latest average wage is $98,530 for 2025, about 13.3% higher than United States' $86,977 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $11,553 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 +1.1% for Luxembourg. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Luxembourg at +8.3% 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: 77.1 for Luxembourg against 100 for United States. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 22.9 index points apart, United States above Luxembourg. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Clothing: Luxembourg reads 99.7 and United States 100 for 2024 — effectively the same relative price level on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Housing at 0.6 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
A clear separation shows in the latest wage figures — Luxembourg at $98,530 for 2025, and United States at $86,977 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 13.3% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $11,553 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 Luxembourg recorded +11.0% 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. Luxembourg sits at the highest point of its series — $98,530 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +11.0%. 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: +8.3% for Luxembourg 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
Luxembourg's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 96.6, and United States' reads 100, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Luxembourg leads in 3 of the 8 comparable categories and United States in 4, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. The widest separation is in Health: 77.1 for Luxembourg against 100 for United States, a gap of 22.9 index points. At the other end, Clothing brings the two closest — 99.7 versus 100, a gap of just 0.3 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Luxembourg 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.
