China
United StatesCompare countries · China vs United States
China vs United States
ChinaEastern Asia
United StatesNorth America
China is cheaper (cost of living 30.5 vs 68.8) and more peaceful (Global Peace Index 2.231 vs 2.535).The United States scores higher on human development (0.938 vs 0.797) and has the higher income per person ($88,810 vs $14,230).About the same on life expectancy (China 78.0, the United States 78.9 years).
Safety
China is the more peaceful
- Global Peace Indexlower is more peaceful
- China2.231Medium safety#117 of 161IEP GPI · 2026
- United States2.535Low safety#133 of 161IEP GPI · 2026
- Homicidesper 100,000 people a year
- China0.5Very lowUNODC / World Bank · 2020
- United States5.8HighUNODC / World Bank · 2023
- Safety indexNumbeo's safety index, higher is safer
- China76.9Very highNumbeo · 2026
- United States50.8ModerateNumbeo · 2026
- UK travel adviceFCDO, for British travellers
- ChinaNo advice against travelFCDO foreign travel advice, GOV.UK · read 2026-10-12
- United StatesNo advice against travelFCDO foreign travel advice, GOV.UK · read 2026-10-12
Money
Income per person is higher in the United States
- GNI per personnational income per person, US dollars
- China$14,230HighWorld Bank · 2025
- United States$88,810Very highWorld Bank · 2025
- Cost of living indexexcluding rent, New York = 100
- China30.5Very affordableNumbeo · 2026
- United States68.8ExpensiveNumbeo · 2026
Health
Life expectancy: the United States 78.9, China 78.0
- Life expectancyyears, at birth
- China78.0High#54 of 195World Bank · 2024
- United States78.9High#47 of 195World Bank · 2024
Work and internet
Broadband is faster in the United States
- Fixed broadbandmedian download speed
- China212 MbpsVery fast#27 of 149Ookla Speedtest · 2025
- United States308 MbpsVery fast#6 of 149Ookla Speedtest · 2025
How it changed
Human development: United States 0.938, China 0.797
ChinaUnited States
UNDP Human Development Report, 1990–2023.
Year by year:ChinaUnited States
Practical facts
- Capital
- Beijing
- Washington, D.C.
- Population
- 1.41B (2025)
- 341.8M (2025)
- Languages
- Chinese
- English
- Currency
- Chinese yuan (CNY)
- United States dollar (USD)
- Area
- 9,388,210 km²
- 9,147,420 km²
- Plug type
- Type A/I
- Type A/B
- Drives on the
- right
- right
- Short visit
- Visa-free for EU; visa needed for UK and US
- Visa-free for UK and EU; visa needed for US
Short visits: passport-index-dataset, 2024, for UK, EU (German) and US passports. Population and area: World Bank. Languages, currency and driving side: restcountries.com. Plug types: worldstandards.eu.
Every figure
China and United States, side by side
China leads on 24 United States on 352 level108 figures. 15 are held for only one country; the other shows a dash. Rows such as population, religion and tax levels have no better or worse end, so they show both values and no verdict. Level means under 2% apart.
Money and cost23
- PPP / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2025
- $29,333Moderate
- $90,027High
- GDP / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2025
- $13,862High
- $90,027Very high
- GNI / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2025
- $14,230High
- $88,810Very high
- Local purchasing power aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 94High
- 146Very high
- Cost of Living aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 30.5Very affordable
- 68.8Expensive
- Cost of living with rent aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 21.5Low
- 56.3Very high
- Rent index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 10.4Affordable
- 40.7Very expensive
- Groceries index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 34.7Low
- 74Very high
- Restaurant prices index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 21Very low
- 72.8Very high
- Property Price-to-Income aheadNumbeo Property Investment · 2026
- 21.5Very expensive
- 3.5Very affordable
- Price level ratio aheadWorld Bank ICP
- 0.819Moderate
- 1.701Very high
- Inflation aheadWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- 0.1%Very low
- 2.9%Moderate
- Pension Replacement aheadOECD Pensions at a Glance · 2024
- 80.6%Very high
- 39.7%Low
- Bank Account aheadWorld Bank Global Findex · 2024
- 89.4%High
- 97%Very high
- Send RemittanceWorld Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide · 2023
- —
- 3.5%Moderate
- Tax WedgeOECD Taxing Wages · 2025
- —
- 30%
- Top Income TaxWikipedia · 2024
- 45%
- 51.8%
- Corporate TaxWikipedia · 2024
- 25%
- 21%
- VAT / GSTWikipedia · 2024
- 13%
- —
- Tax RevenueWorld Bank · 2024
- 7%
- 10.8%
- GDP (total)World Bank · 2025
- $19,498 bn
- $30,770 bn
- FDI InflowsWorld Bank · 2025
- 0.4%
- 1.3%
- Innovation aheadWIPO Global Innovation Index · 2025
- 56.6Very high
- 61.7Very high
Work3
- UnemploymentWorld Bank · 2025
- 4.6%
- 4.2%
- Long Work HoursOECD Better Life Index · 2020
- —
- 10.4%High
- Public Holidaysdate.nager.at · 2025
- 6
- 12
Equality6
- Income Inequality aheadWorld Bank · 2022–2024
- 36High
- 41.8Very high
- Income Share Bot. 20% aheadWorld Bank · 2022–2024
- 7.3Moderate
- 5.1Very low
- Income Share Top 10% aheadWorld Bank · 2022–2024
- 28.4High
- 30.7High
- Poverty Rate aheadWorld Bank · 2022–2024
- 21.3%Moderate
- 1.8%Low
- Gender Inequality aheadUNDP Human Development Report · 2023
- 0.132Low
- 0.169Low
- Inequality-Adj. HDI aheadUNDP HDR
- 0.670High
- 0.832Very high
Safety8
- Peace Index aheadIEP Global Peace Index · 2026
- 2.231Medium safety
- 2.535Low safety
- Safety aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 76.9Very high
- 50.8Moderate
- Homicides / 100k aheadUNODC / World Bank · 2020–2023
- 0.5Very low
- 5.8High
- Assault RateUNODC CTS · 2022
- —
- 277.9Very high
- Robbery Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2022–2023
- 0.48Very low
- 63.2High
- Kidnapping RateUNODC CTS · 2022
- —
- 15.4Very high
- Road Deaths / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 17.4High
- 14.2Moderate
- Disaster Risk aheadWorld Risk Index · 2022
- 28.7Very high
- 22.7Very high
Health16
- Life ExpectancyLevelWorld Bank · 2024
- 78.0High
- 78.9High
- Infant Mortality aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 4.1Low
- 5.5Low
- Healthcare Quality aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 69.2Good
- 67Good
- UHC Service Coverage aheadWHO GHO · 2023
- 85Very high
- 88Very high
- Physicians / 1k aheadWorld Bank · 2022
- 3.1High
- 3.7High
- Hospital Beds aheadWorld Bank · 2022–2023
- 5.6Very high
- 2.7Moderate
- Out-of-Pocket Health % aheadWorld Bank · 2023
- 32.2%High
- 10.9%Very low
- Healthcare SpendWorld Bank · 2023
- $763
- $13,473
- Clean Water aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 96.1%Moderate
- 100%Very high
- PM2.5 concentration aheadWHO GHO · 2023
- 31.6Very high
- 9.8Low
- Air-pollution Deaths / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 82.6Moderate
- 15.9Very low
- Obesity aheadWHO GHO · 2024
- 9.3%Very low
- 41%Very high
- Tobacco Use aheadWHO GHO · 2022–2023
- 24.7%High
- 16.2%Low
- Raised Blood Glucose aheadWHO GHO · 2014
- 8.8%Moderate
- 7.3%Low
- Suicide Rate / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 8.9High
- 15.6Very high
- Alcohol L / capitaWHO GHO · 2024
- 3.7
- 9.6
Education and getting online8
- PISA MathOECD PISA Results · 2022
- —
- 465Moderate
- PISA ReadingOECD PISA Results · 2022
- —
- 504Very high
- PISA ScienceOECD PISA Results · 2022
- —
- 499Very high
- Education SpendWorld Bank · 2021–2023
- 3.9%
- 5.4%
- English Proficiency aheadEF English Proficiency Index · 2025
- 464Low
- 700Native
- Internet aheadWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- 91.6%High
- 94.7%Very high
- Fixed broadband aheadOokla Speedtest Global Index · 2025
- 212 MbpsVery fast
- 308 MbpsVery fast
- Mobile internet aheadOokla Speedtest Global Index · 2025
- 159 MbpsHigh
- 212 MbpsVery high
Governance and freedom8
- Rule of Law aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- -0.43Moderate
- 0.79High
- Corruption aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.07Moderate
- 0.87Very high
- Political Stability aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.02Moderate
- -0.30Low
- Government Effectiveness aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.62High
- 1.19Very high
- Regulatory Quality aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- -0.11Moderate
- 1.01Very high
- Democracy aheadEIU Democracy Index · 2025
- 2.2Very low
- 7.7High
- Freedom House aheadFreedom House · 2025
- 9Very low
- 81High
- Press Freedom aheadRSF World Press Freedom Index · 2026
- 13.9Very serious
- 62.6Satisfactory
Quality of life10
- Human Development aheadUNDP Human Development Report · 2023
- 0.797High
- 0.938Very high
- Happiness aheadWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 6.07Moderate
- 6.82Moderate
- Quality of life index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 134.8Moderate
- 186Very high
- Climate indexLevelNumbeo · 2026
- 74.4Good
- 75.8Good
- WHR: GDPWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.662
- 2
- WHR: Social SupportWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.963
- 1.516
- WHR: Healthy Life Exp.World Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.905
- 0.678
- WHR: FreedomWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.793
- 0.776
- WHR: GenerosityWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.089
- 0.155
- WHR: Corruption TrustWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.161
- 0.155
People and planet23
- PopulationWorld Bank · 2025
- 1,406,585,000
- 341,784,857
- AreaWorld Bank
- 9,388,210 km²
- 9,147,420 km²
- Median AgeWorld Bank age-group shares
- 39.8
- 40.5
- Population GrowthWorld Bank · 2025
- -0.17%
- 0.52%
- Urban PopulationWorld Bank · 2025
- 66.3%
- 80.2%
- Net MigrationWorld Bank · 2025
- -268,126
- 1,230,663
- Foreign-Born %UN DESA International Migrant Stock · 2024
- 0.1%
- 15.2%
- Fertility RateWorld Bank · 2024
- 1.01
- 1.63
- Avg Household SizeOECD Family Database · 2024
- —
- 2.5
- Single-Person HouseholdsOECD Family Database · 2021
- —
- 27.6%
- Lone-Parent HouseholdsOECD Family Database · 2021
- —
- 6.8%
- ChristianPew Research · 2020
- 1.8%
- 64%
- MuslimPew Research · 2020
- 1.8%
- 1.2%
- HinduPew Research · 2020
- 0%
- 0.9%
- BuddhistPew Research · 2020
- 3.7%
- 1.3%
- JewishPew Research · 2020
- 0%
- 1.7%
- UnaffiliatedPew Research · 2020
- 89.6%
- 29.7%
- Other religionsPew Research · 2020
- 3%
- 1.2%
- CO₂ / Capita aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 9.3Very high
- 13.6Very high
- Renewables aheadWorld Bank · 2021
- 15.2%Low
- 10.9%Low
- Forest CoverWorld Bank · 2023
- 24%
- 33.9%
- Climate Vulnerability aheadND-GAIN Country Index · 2023
- 0.382Low
- 0.312Very low
- Climate Readiness aheadND-GAIN Country Index · 2023
- 0.556Very high
- 0.647Very high
Other3
- LiteracyWorld Bank · 2020
- 96.7%
- —
- Receive RemittanceWorld Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide · 2023
- 2.8%
- —
- Leisure TimeOECD Better Life Index · 2020
- —
- 14.6
Quick answers
Is China cheaper than United States?
Numbeo's 2026 cost-of-living index (NYC = 100) puts China at 30.5 and United States at 68.8. China is about 56% cheaper overall.
Is China or United States safer?
On the Global Peace Index (lower = more peaceful), China scores 2.23 and United States scores 2.54. China ranks as the more peaceful of the two.
Which has the higher quality of life, China or United States?
On the UN Human Development Index, China scores 0.797 and United States scores 0.938. United States scores higher on this composite of income, health and education. Single indexes hide trade-offs; the full comparison above shows where each country wins.
What is life like in China compared to United States?
GNI per capita runs $14,230 in China against $88,810 in United States; people live 78.0 years on average against 78.9; Numbeo users rate healthcare 69 against 67. Those are national averages and they hide the thing you actually feel: capital-city costs run well ahead of the national figure in most countries, and rural provision of healthcare and internet often lags the number shown here. The table below splits it indicator by indicator.