GDP per head is roughly 30 per cent higher in the US than the UK, a gap that has widened since the 2008 financial crash. The median UK salary stands at £39,039, compared to £46,763 in America, according to the Office for National Statistics and US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Median disposable household income in the US is just over £57,000, while the UK figure is just over £36,000 – a difference of more than £20,000. Only one in ten British households has over £70,000 in disposable income after tax, compared to about four in ten American households.
The earning premium for higher education is larger in the US: starting salaries for graduates with a bachelor’s degree range from $60,000 to $78,000 in America, but only £28,000 to £35,000 in the UK. At the top end, no Britons feature in the Bloomberg billionaire top 100, while 15 Americans are in the top 20.
However, Americans work longer hours – 1,805 hours a year versus 1,524 in the UK – and have shorter holidays and no statutory paid maternity leave. When adjusting for working conditions and healthcare costs, the gap narrows but most Americans remain better off.
US homes are also significantly larger, averaging nearly 2,300 square feet compared to under 950 square feet in the UK, despite similar average prices of around £300,000 in both countries.
