United States
Latest Average Wage
+2.1% · 5 years
$86,977
Country Comparison
United States vs Netherlands
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
United States
vs
Netherlands
$86,9772025
Latest Average Wage
United States +8.5%
(vs Netherlands)
$80,1362025
+2.1%2025
5-Year Wage Change
United States +4.1 pts
(vs Netherlands)
−2.0%2025
+13.0%2025
10-Year Wage Change
United States +16.1 pts
(vs Netherlands)
−3.1%2025
1002024
Overall Price Level
United States +21.6 index points
(vs Netherlands)
78.42024
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
Netherlands
Latest Average Wage
−2.0% · 5 years
$80,136
Wage Milestones
United States
10 Years Ago
$76,999 (2015)
Historical Peak
$86,977 (2025)
Latest Wage
$86,977 (2025)
Netherlands
10 Years Ago
$82,711 (2015)
Historical Peak
$83,103 (2016)
Latest Wage
$80,136 (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)Netherlands (NLD)
Overall
+21.6 index points
100
100vs78.4
Food
+15.6 index points
100
100vs84.4
Clothing
+17.3 index points
100
100vs82.7
Housing
+26.9 index points
100
100vs73.1
Health
+39.2 index points
100
100vs60.8
Transport
−19.0 index points
100
100vs119
Recreation
+10.0 index points
100
100vs90
Restaurants & Accommodation
+0.8 index points
100
100vs99.2
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United States' latest average wage is $86,977 for 2025, about 8.5% higher than Netherlands' $80,136 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $6,841 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Netherlands shows the stronger movement at +1.9%, against +1.7% for United States. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — United States at +2.1% and Netherlands at −2.0% — 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: 100 for United States against 60.8 for Netherlands. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 39.2 index points apart, United States above Netherlands. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Restaurants & Accommodation: United States reads 100 and Netherlands 99.2 for 2024, just 0.8 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Recreation at 10.0 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
United States' latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $86,977 for 2025, moderately higher than Netherlands' $80,136 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 8.5% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $6,841 a year on the same purchasing-power basis. 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 United States recorded +13.0% against Netherlands' −3.1%, so the current levels were reached on visibly different long-term paths.
Wage Direction
The two wage series are currently moving in opposite directions, and the separation between them is growing. 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%. Netherlands is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +1.9%, though the level remains 3.6% below its peak. United States is the side gaining in real terms (+2.1% over five years), while Netherlands records −2.0%, so the five-year measures point away from each other instead of converging. 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 Netherlands' reads 78.4, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: United States sits higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories. Health separates the two most: United States reads 100 and Netherlands 60.8, 39.2 index points apart. The two sit closest in Restaurants & Accommodation (100 versus 99.2), only 0.8 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 0 of United States' 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 1 of Netherlands' 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
