Netherlands
Latest Average Wage
−2.0% · 5 years
$80,136
Country Comparison
Netherlands vs Austria
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Netherlands
vs
Austria
$80,1362025
Latest Average Wage
Netherlands +2.3%
(vs Austria)
$78,3012025
−2.0%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Austria +5.3 pts
(vs Netherlands)
+3.3%2025
−3.1%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Austria +8.6 pts
(vs Netherlands)
+5.5%2025
78.42024
Overall Price Level
Netherlands +1.3 index points
(vs Austria)
77.12024
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
Austria
Latest Average Wage
+3.3% · 5 years
$78,301
Wage Milestones
Netherlands
10 Years Ago
$82,711 (2015)
Historical Peak
$83,103 (2016)
Latest Wage
$80,136 (2025)
Austria
10 Years Ago
$74,198 (2015)
Historical Peak
$78,301 (2025)
Latest Wage
$78,301 (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
Netherlands (NLD)Austria (AUT)
Overall
+1.3 index points
100
78.4vs77.1
Food
−9.4 index points
100
84.4vs93.8
Clothing
−12.5 index points
100
82.7vs95.2
Housing
+10.8 index points
100
73.1vs62.3
Health
−1.9 index points
100
60.8vs62.7
Transport
+4.0 index points
100
119vs115
Recreation
−5.8 index points
100
90vs95.8
Restaurants & Accommodation
+9.0 index points
100
99.2vs90.2
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Netherlands' latest average wage is $80,136 for 2025, about 2.3% higher than Austria's $78,301 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. That is roughly $1,835 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Netherlands shows the stronger movement at +1.9%, against +0.8% for Austria. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Netherlands at −2.0% and Austria at +3.3% — 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
Clothing shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 82.7 for Netherlands against 95.2 for Austria. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 12.5 index points apart, Austria above Netherlands. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Overall: Netherlands reads 78.4 and Austria 77.1 for 2024, just 1.3 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Health at 1.9 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Netherlands and Austria report nearly the same PPP-adjusted average annual wage: $80,136 for 2025, against $78,301 for 2025. The difference is 2.3% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $1,835 a year, which is small next to either figure. Both figures are expressed in USD PPP at constant 2025 prices, so they can be set side by side without any further conversion. Over ten years Netherlands recorded −3.1% against Austria's +5.5%, so the current levels were reached on visibly different long-term paths. For most side-by-side readings the two wage levels can be treated as equivalent within this dataset.
Wage Direction
The two wage series are moving in opposite directions — and the gap between them is narrowing as a result. Netherlands is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +1.9%, though the level remains 3.6% below its peak. Austria sits at the highest point of its series — $78,301 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +5.5%. Because Austria — the lower of the two latest wage levels — is the side currently gaining in real terms (+3.3% over five years against −2.0%), the distance between the two is shrinking on these measures rather than growing.
Price Profile
Netherlands' overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 78.4, and Austria's reads 77.1, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Netherlands leads in 4 of the 8 comparable categories and Austria in 4, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. The widest separation is in Clothing: 82.7 for Netherlands against 95.2 for Austria, a gap of 12.5 index points. At the other end, Overall brings the two closest — 78.4 versus 77.1, a gap of just 1.3 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Netherlands reads above 100 in 1 of its 8 reported categories, and Austria in 1 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
