United States
Latest Average Wage
+2.1% · 5 years
$86,977
Country Comparison
United States vs Switzerland
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
United States
vs
Switzerland
$86,9772025
Latest Average Wage
Switzerland +6.1%
(vs United States)
$92,2852025
+2.1%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Switzerland +5.0 pts
(vs United States)
+7.1%2025
+13.0%2025
10-Year Wage Change
United States +7.2 pts
(vs Switzerland)
+5.8%2025
1002024
Overall Price Level
Switzerland +19.0 index points
(vs United States)
1192024
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
Switzerland
Latest Average Wage
+7.1% · 5 years
$92,285
Wage Milestones
United States
10 Years Ago
$76,999 (2015)
Historical Peak
$86,977 (2025)
Latest Wage
$86,977 (2025)
Switzerland
10 Years Ago
$87,262 (2015)
Historical Peak
$92,285 (2025)
Latest Wage
$92,285 (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
United States (USA)Switzerland (CHE)
Overall
−19.0 index points
100
100vs119
Food
−37.0 index points
100
100vs137
Clothing
−23.0 index points
100
100vs123
Housing
−19.0 index points
100
100vs119
Health
+5.5 index points
100
100vs94.5
Transport
−34.0 index points
100
100vs134
Recreation
−36.0 index points
100
100vs136
Restaurants & Accommodation
−40.0 index points
100
100vs140
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Switzerland's latest average wage is $92,285 for 2025, about 6.1% higher than United States' $86,977 for 2025 — a percentage worked out directly from the two reported figures. Per year, that works out to roughly $5,308 on the shared purchasing-power basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, United States shows the stronger movement at +1.7%, against +0.1% for Switzerland. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — United States at +2.1% and Switzerland at +7.1% — 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
Restaurants & Accommodation shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 100 for United States against 140 for Switzerland. That is a separation of 40.0 index points on the US=100 scale, with Switzerland on the higher side and United States on the lower one. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Health: United States reads 100 and Switzerland 94.5 for 2024, just 5.5 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Housing at 19.0 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Switzerland's latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $92,285 for 2025, moderately higher than United States' $86,977 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 6.1% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $5,308 a year on the same purchasing-power basis. No extra conversion is needed here: each figure is already a purchasing-power-adjusted annual amount in constant prices. 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 United States recorded +13.0% and Switzerland +5.8%, 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. 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%. Switzerland sits at the highest point of its series — $92,285 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +5.8%. Switzerland's five-year change of +7.1% 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
United States' overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 100, and Switzerland's reads 119, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: Switzerland sits higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories. Restaurants & Accommodation separates the two most: United States reads 100 and Switzerland 140, 40.0 index points apart. The two sit closest in Health (100 versus 94.5), only 5.5 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 0 of United States' 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 7 of Switzerland's 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.
