Norway
United StatesCompare countries · Norway vs United States
Norway vs United States
NorwayNorthern Europe
United StatesNorth America
The United States is cheaper (cost of living 68.8 vs 83.7).Norway is more peaceful (Global Peace Index 1.688 vs 2.535), scores higher on human development (0.970 vs 0.938) and has the higher income per person ($97,310 vs $88,810).It also has the longer life expectancy (83.2 vs 78.9 years).
Safety
Norway is the more peaceful
- Global Peace Indexlower is more peaceful
- Norway1.688High safety#33 of 161IEP GPI · 2026
- United States2.535Low safety#133 of 161IEP GPI · 2026
- Homicidesper 100,000 people a year
- Norway0.7Very lowUNODC / World Bank · 2023
- United States5.8HighUNODC / World Bank · 2023
- Safety indexNumbeo's safety index, higher is safer
- Norway66.7HighNumbeo · 2026
- United States50.8ModerateNumbeo · 2026
- UK travel adviceFCDO, for British travellers
- NorwayNo 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 Norway
- GNI per personnational income per person, US dollars
- Norway$97,310Very highWorld Bank · 2025
- United States$88,810Very highWorld Bank · 2025
- Cost of living indexexcluding rent, New York = 100
- Norway83.7Very expensiveNumbeo · 2026
- United States68.8ExpensiveNumbeo · 2026
Health
People live longer in Norway
- Life expectancyyears, at birth
- Norway83.2Very high#15 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
- Norway176 MbpsVery fast#39 of 149Ookla Speedtest · 2025
- United States308 MbpsVery fast#6 of 149Ookla Speedtest · 2025
- Youth unemploymentshare of 15 to 24 year olds in the labour force
- Norway14.0%ModerateEurostat · 2025
- United StatesNo figure from Eurostat
How it changed
Human development: Norway 0.970, United States 0.938
NorwayUnited States
UNDP Human Development Report, 1990–2023.
Year by year:NorwayUnited States
Practical facts
- Capital
- Oslo
- Washington, D.C.
- Population
- 5.6M (2025)
- 341.8M (2025)
- Languages
- Norwegian Nynorsk, Norwegian Bokmål, Sami
- English
- Currency
- Norwegian krone (NOK)
- United States dollar (USD)
- Area
- 364,270 km²
- 9,147,420 km²
- Plug type
- Type C/F
- Type A/B
- Drives on the
- right
- right
- Short visit
- Visa-free for UK, EU and US passports
- 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
Norway and United States, side by side
Norway leads on 48 United States on 154 level115 figures. 13 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 cost26
- Median IncomeEurostat · 2025
- €41,923Very high
- —
- PPP / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2025
- $104,044Very high
- $90,027High
- GDP / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2025
- $94,594Very high
- $90,027Very high
- GNI / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2025
- $97,310Very high
- $88,810Very high
- Local purchasing power aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 124.7Very high
- 146Very high
- Cost of Living aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 83.7Very expensive
- 68.8Expensive
- Cost of living with rent aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 59.4Very high
- 56.3Very high
- Rent index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 29.2Very expensive
- 40.7Very expensive
- Groceries index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 85.4Very high
- 74Very high
- Restaurant prices index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 88.6Very high
- 72.8Very high
- Property Price-to-Income aheadNumbeo Property Investment · 2026
- 8.0Very affordable
- 3.5Very affordable
- Price level ratio aheadWorld Bank ICP
- 1.637Very high
- 1.701Very high
- Housing OverburdenEurostat · 2025
- 13.5%Very high
- —
- Electricity PriceEurostat · 2025
- €0.192Affordable
- —
- Energy PovertyEurostat · 2025
- 1.7%Very low
- —
- Inflation aheadWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- 3.1%Moderate
- 2.9%Moderate
- Pension Replacement aheadOECD Pensions at a Glance · 2024
- 46.1%Moderate
- 39.7%Low
- Bank AccountLevelWorld Bank Global Findex · 2024
- 98.6%Very high
- 97%Very high
- Send Remittance aheadWorld Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide · 2023
- 1.2%Very low
- 3.5%Moderate
- Tax WedgeOECD Taxing Wages · 2025
- 36.4%
- 30%
- Top Income TaxWikipedia · 2024
- —
- 51.8%
- Corporate TaxWikipedia · 2024
- —
- 21%
- Tax RevenueWorld Bank · 2024
- 24.5%
- 10.8%
- GDP (total)World Bank · 2025
- $531 bn
- $30,770 bn
- FDI InflowsWorld Bank · 2025
- -1.5%
- 1.3%
- Innovation aheadWIPO Global Innovation Index · 2025
- 49.2Very high
- 61.7Very high
Work4
- UnemploymentWorld Bank · 2025
- 4.6%
- 4.2%
- Youth UnemploymentEurostat · 2025
- 14.0%Moderate
- —
- Long Work Hours aheadOECD Better Life Index · 2020
- 1.4%Very low
- 10.4%High
- Public Holidaysdate.nager.at · 2025
- 12
- 12
Equality7
- Income Inequality aheadWorld Bank · 2023–2024
- 26.5Very low
- 41.8Very high
- Income Share Bot. 20% aheadWorld Bank · 2023–2024
- 9.1Very high
- 5.1Very low
- Income Share Top 10% aheadWorld Bank · 2023–2024
- 21.6Very low
- 30.7High
- Poverty Rate aheadWorld Bank · 2023–2024
- 0.4%Very low
- 1.8%Low
- Poverty RiskEurostat · 2025
- 11.3%Very low
- —
- Gender Inequality aheadUNDP Human Development Report · 2023
- 0.004Very low
- 0.169Low
- Inequality-Adj. HDI aheadUNDP HDR
- 0.909Very high
- 0.832Very high
Safety10
- Peace Index aheadIEP Global Peace Index · 2026
- 1.688High safety
- 2.535Low safety
- Safety aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 66.7High
- 50.8Moderate
- Homicides / 100k aheadUNODC / World Bank · 2023
- 0.7Very low
- 5.8High
- Crime PerceptionEurostat · 2023
- 5.9%Low
- —
- Assault Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2022–2023
- 37.1Moderate
- 277.9Very high
- Robbery Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2022–2023
- 25Moderate
- 63.2High
- Sexual Violence RateUNODC CTS · 2023
- 95.3Very high
- —
- Kidnapping RateUNODC CTS · 2022
- —
- 15.4Very high
- Road Deaths / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 1.5Very low
- 14.2Moderate
- Disaster Risk aheadWorld Risk Index · 2022
- 3.2Low
- 22.7Very high
Health16
- Life Expectancy aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 83.2Very high
- 78.9High
- Infant Mortality aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 2Very low
- 5.5Low
- Healthcare Quality aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 75.8Excellent
- 67Good
- UHC Service CoverageLevelWHO GHO · 2023
- 89Very high
- 88Very high
- Physicians / 1k aheadWorld Bank · 2022–2023
- 5Very high
- 3.7High
- Hospital Beds aheadWorld Bank · 2022–2023
- 3.3High
- 2.7Moderate
- Out-of-Pocket Health % aheadWorld Bank · 2023
- 13.7%Low
- 10.9%Very low
- Healthcare SpendWorld Bank · 2023
- $8,296
- $13,473
- Clean WaterLevelWorld Bank · 2024
- 100%Very high
- 100%Very high
- PM2.5 concentration aheadWHO GHO · 2023
- 5.1Very low
- 9.8Low
- Air-pollution Deaths / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 5.6Very low
- 15.9Very low
- Obesity aheadWHO GHO · 2024
- 20.2%Moderate
- 41%Very high
- Tobacco Use aheadWHO GHO · 2023
- 13.5%Low
- 16.2%Low
- Raised Blood Glucose aheadWHO GHO · 2014
- 5.1%Very low
- 7.3%Low
- Suicide Rate / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 13.2High
- 15.6Very high
- Alcohol L / capitaWHO GHO · 2024
- 7
- 9.6
Education and getting online9
- Tertiary EducationEurostat · 2025
- 50.2%Very high
- —
- PISA MathLevelOECD PISA Results · 2022
- 468High
- 465Moderate
- PISA Reading aheadOECD PISA Results · 2022
- 477High
- 504Very high
- PISA Science aheadOECD PISA Results · 2022
- 478High
- 499Very high
- Education SpendWorld Bank · 2021–2022
- 5.4%
- 5.4%
- English Proficiency aheadEF English Proficiency Index · 2025
- 613Very high
- 700Native
- Internet aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 99%Very high
- 94.7%Very high
- Fixed broadband aheadOokla Speedtest Global Index · 2025
- 176 MbpsVery fast
- 308 MbpsVery fast
- Mobile internet aheadOokla Speedtest Global Index · 2025
- 172 MbpsVery high
- 212 MbpsVery high
Governance and freedom8
- Rule of Law aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 1.94Very high
- 0.79High
- Corruption aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 1.93Very high
- 0.87Very high
- Political Stability aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 1.08Very high
- -0.30Low
- Government Effectiveness aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 1.84Very high
- 1.19Very high
- Regulatory Quality aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 1.59Very high
- 1.01Very high
- Democracy aheadEIU Democracy Index · 2025
- 9.8Very high
- 7.7High
- Freedom House aheadFreedom House · 2025
- 99Very high
- 81High
- Press Freedom aheadRSF World Press Freedom Index · 2026
- 92.7Good
- 62.6Satisfactory
Quality of life10
- Human Development aheadUNDP Human Development Report · 2023
- 0.970Very high
- 0.938Very high
- Happiness aheadWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 7.24High
- 6.82Moderate
- Quality of life index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 195.4Very high
- 186Very high
- Climate index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 70.6Good
- 75.8Good
- WHR: GDPWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 2.1
- 2
- WHR: Social SupportWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.626
- 1.516
- WHR: Healthy Life Exp.World Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.983
- 0.678
- WHR: FreedomWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.092
- 0.776
- WHR: GenerosityWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.157
- 0.155
- WHR: Corruption TrustWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.413
- 0.155
People and planet23
- PopulationWorld Bank · 2025
- 5,610,870
- 341,784,857
- AreaWorld Bank
- 364,270 km²
- 9,147,420 km²
- Median AgeWorld Bank age-group shares
- 41.2
- 40.5
- Population GrowthWorld Bank · 2025
- 0.69%
- 0.52%
- Urban PopulationWorld Bank · 2025
- 83.6%
- 80.2%
- Net MigrationWorld Bank · 2025
- 29,798
- 1,230,663
- Foreign-Born %UN DESA International Migrant Stock · 2024
- 18.2%
- 15.2%
- Fertility RateWorld Bank · 2024
- 1.45
- 1.63
- Avg Household SizeOECD Family Database · 2024
- 2
- 2.5
- Single-Person HouseholdsOECD Family Database · 2021
- 42.1%
- 27.6%
- Lone-Parent HouseholdsOECD Family Database · 2021
- 6.3%
- 6.8%
- ChristianPew Research · 2020
- 71.4%
- 64%
- MuslimPew Research · 2020
- 4.1%
- 1.2%
- HinduPew Research · 2020
- 0.2%
- 0.9%
- BuddhistPew Research · 2020
- 0.7%
- 1.3%
- JewishPew Research · 2020
- 0.1%
- 1.7%
- UnaffiliatedPew Research · 2020
- 22.5%
- 29.7%
- Other religionsPew Research · 2020
- 1%
- 1.2%
- CO₂ / Capita aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 7.2Very high
- 13.6Very high
- Renewables aheadWorld Bank · 2021
- 61.4%Very high
- 10.9%Low
- Forest CoverWorld Bank · 2023
- 33.5%
- 33.9%
- Climate Vulnerability aheadND-GAIN Country Index · 2023
- 0.256Very low
- 0.312Very low
- Climate Readiness aheadND-GAIN Country Index · 2023
- 0.765Very high
- 0.647Very high
Other2
- Unmet Medical NeedEurostat · 2025
- 1.9%
- —
- Leisure TimeOECD Better Life Index · 2020
- 15.7
- 14.6
Quick answers
Is Norway cheaper than United States?
Numbeo's 2026 cost-of-living index (NYC = 100) puts Norway at 83.7 and United States at 68.8. United States is about 18% cheaper overall.
Is Norway or United States safer?
On the Global Peace Index (lower = more peaceful), Norway scores 1.69 and United States scores 2.54. Norway ranks as the more peaceful of the two.
Which has the higher quality of life, Norway or United States?
On the UN Human Development Index, Norway scores 0.970 and United States scores 0.938. Norway 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 Norway compared to United States?
GNI per capita runs $97,310 in Norway against $88,810 in United States; people live 83.2 years on average against 78.9; Numbeo users rate healthcare 76 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.