Portugal
Latest Average Wage
+13.9% · 5 years
$44,937
Country Comparison
Portugal vs United States
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Portugal
vs
United States
$44,9372025
Latest Average Wage
United States +93.6%
(vs Portugal)
$86,9772025
+13.9%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Portugal +11.8 pts
(vs United States)
+2.1%2025
+23.1%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Portugal +10.1 pts
(vs United States)
+13.0%2025
55.72024
Overall Price Level
United States +44.3 index points
(vs Portugal)
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
Portugal
10 Years Ago
$36,520 (2015)
Historical Peak
$44,937 (2025)
Latest Wage
$44,937 (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
Portugal (PRT)United States (USA)
Overall
−44.3 index points
100
55.7vs100
Food
−12.4 index points
100
87.6vs100
Clothing
−17.6 index points
100
82.4vs100
Housing
−55.3 index points
100
44.7vs100
Health
−60.5 index points
100
39.5vs100
Transport
−8.0 index points
100
92vs100
Recreation
−33.5 index points
100
66.5vs100
Restaurants & Accommodation
−38.3 index points
100
61.7vs100
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United States' latest average wage is $86,977 for 2025, about 93.6% higher than Portugal's $44,937 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. That is roughly $42,040 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Portugal shows the stronger movement at +1.8%, against +1.7% for United States. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +13.9% against +2.1%. 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: 39.5 for Portugal against 100 for United States. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 60.5 index points apart, United States above Portugal. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Transport: Portugal reads 92 and United States 100 for 2024, just 8.0 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Food at 12.4 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
The wage levels in this pairing are far apart: United States reports $86,977 for 2025, while Portugal reports $44,937 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 93.6% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $42,040 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. Over ten years Portugal recorded +23.1% and United States +13.0%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
Both wage series rise over the five-year horizon, though not at the same pace. Portugal sits at the highest point of its series — $44,937 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +23.1%. 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%. Portugal's five-year change of +13.9% outpaces United States' +2.1% in magnitude, so the common direction does not mean the two levels are holding a fixed distance. Each percentage is a real, PPP-adjusted change; nominal pay movements are outside what this dataset reports.
Price Profile
Portugal's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 55.7, and United States' reads 100, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: United States sits higher in 8 of the 8 comparable categories. Health separates the two most: Portugal reads 39.5 and United States 100, 60.5 index points apart. The two sit closest in Transport (92 versus 100), only 8.0 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 0 of Portugal's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 0 of United States' 8. These are index values for 2024, not currency amounts; categories without a reported value on either side are left out of the comparison.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
