Mapped: Where Your Salary Goes the Furthest in 2026

Where Does Your Salary Go the Furthest in 2026?

A higher salary doesn’t always mean greater purchasing power. As housing, food, and other everyday expenses put pressure on household budgets, what matters is how much a paycheck can actually buy.

This visualization uses data from Numbeo to compare salary purchasing power across 142 countries in 2026. The index measures average take-home salaries relative to local prices, using New York City as a benchmark of 100.

Where Salaries Go the Furthest in 2026

The following table ranks countries by how much average take-home pay can buy at local prices. Higher scores indicate greater purchasing power.

Rank	Country	Local Purchasing Power Index (2026)
1	Kuwait	175.8
2	Qatar	168.1
3	Switzerland	165.7
4	Luxembourg	155.1
5	Oman	151.3
6	U.S.	144.5
7	Denmark	141.2
8	Australia	134.8
9	Germany	130.0
10	Sweden	128.6
11	Brunei	128.0
12	Netherlands	124.3
13	Norway	123.2
14	Finland	119.8
15	New Zealand	119.4
16	UK	118.2
17	Bahrain	117.3
18	Belgium	117.1
19	Saudi Arabia	115.7
20	Israel	115.0
21	Canada	114.8
22	Austria	114.2
23	Iceland	113.6
24	UAE	113.4
25	France	113.3
26	Ireland	113.0
27	Japan	107.3
28	South Africa	105.5
29	South Korea	101.7
30	Taiwan	99.5
31	Spain	96.8
32	Poland	94.7
33	China	94.2
34	Singapore	91.3
35	Czechia	89.2
36	Estonia	88.7
37	Lithuania	87.5
38	Slovenia	87.0
39	Italy	85.5
40	Croatia	82.0
41	Cyprus	81.3
42	Botswana	80.0
43	Bulgaria	78.6
44	Hungary	77.3
45	Malta	76.6
46	Malaysia	76.3
47	Latvia	74.1
48	Slovakia	73.4
49	Romania	72.7
50	Turkey	71.8
51	India	69.6
52	Namibia	69.0
53	Belize	65.4
54	Portugal	65.3
55	North Macedonia	64.6
56	Bosnia and Herzegovina	64.3
57	Belarus	63.7
58	Montenegro	63.4
59	Serbia	63.1
60	Greece	62.3
61	Russia	60.9
62	Bahamas	58.5
63	Iraq	57.6
64	Uruguay	56.8
65	Fiji	56.4
66	Kosovo	56.4
67	Moldova	55.6
68	Jordan	55.3
69	Mauritius	54.1
70	Kazakhstan	52.1
71	Chile	50.4
72	Costa Rica	49.1
73	Paraguay	49.1
74	Uzbekistan	48.6
75	Peru	48.4
76	Ukraine	48.1
77	Guyana	47.9
78	Armenia	47.4
79	Ecuador	47.4
80	Albania	46.9
81	Mexico	46.8
82	Argentina	44.8
83	Brazil	44.3
84	Morocco	43.7
85	Georgia	43.2
86	Bolivia	43.1
87	Trinidad and Tobago	42.7
88	Tajikistan	42.4
89	Panama	42.1
90	Kyrgyzstan	41.6
91	Thailand	41.0
92	Mongolia	40.7
93	Vietnam	40.5
94	Dominican Republic	40.4
95	Colombia	40
96	Azerbaijan	39.8
97	Maldives	38.9
98	Honduras	38.9
99	Afghanistan	38.5
100	Libya	37.8
101	Lebanon	35.6
102	Algeria	35.3
103	Jamaica	34.6
104	Tunisia	33.6
105	Kenya	33.4
106	Guatemala	32.8
107	Bangladesh	32.8
108	Philippines	32.1
109	Seychelles	31.5
110	Iran	30.7
111	Nepal	29.9
112	Indonesia	28.5
113	Democratic Republic of the Congo	28.2
114	Pakistan	27.9
115	Zimbabwe	27.8
116	El Salvador	26.8
117	Tanzania	26.1
118	Rwanda	24.8
119	Nicaragua	24.6
120	Mozambique	24.3
121	Egypt	23.9
122	Zambia	23.5
123	Cambodia	22.6
124	Senegal	22.3
125	Cape Verde	22.3
126	Papua New Guinea	20.2
127	Sri Lanka	19.7
128	Myanmar	19.5
129	Uganda	18.6
130	Turkmenistan	18.5
131	Suriname	18.4
132	Ghana	18.1
133	Venezuela	16.7
134	Yemen	16.6
135	Madagascar	14.9
136	Solomon Islands	13.2
137	Ethiopia	12.5
138	Côte d’Ivoire	11.7
139	Cameroon	10.8
140	Nigeria	8.8
141	Syria	6.4
142	Cuba	2.4
—	New York City (Benchmark)	100.0

Four of the five countries where salaries stretch furthest have populations below 10 million. Kuwait and Qatar lead the rankings, while Switzerland and Luxembourg also place in the top five. Oman rounds out the top five, ahead of the U.S., the world’s largest economy.

At the opposite extreme, Cuba has a purchasing power index of just 2.4, roughly 73 times lower than Kuwait’s. This highlights the enormous differences in what an average paycheck can buy across countries.

Why American Salaries Go Further Than Canadian Salaries

The purchasing power gap between the U.S. and Canada is particularly striking given the relatively high living costs in both countries.

The difference is reinforced by wage data. In 2025, average annual wages reached $86,977 in the U.S., compared with $67,901 in Canada, after adjusting for differences in local prices. That’s a 28% advantage for American workers.

Although these figures represent gross wages while Numbeo uses take-home pay, both comparisons point to a similar conclusion: the U.S. wage advantage persists even after accounting for differences in living costs.

Why Cuba Has the World’s Weakest Purchasing Power

In 2025, the average monthly state salary in Cuba was 6,930 Cuban pesos, equivalent to roughly $13 at the informal exchange rate reported in April 2026.

The country’s state-dominated wage system and depreciating currency have severely weakened household purchasing power. Food shortages, shrinking subsidized rations, and frequent power outages have compounded the pressure on households.

Why High Living Costs Don’t Always Mean Less Buying Power

Switzerland ranks third worldwide, despite being one of Europe’s most expensive countries. Portugal, where living costs are considerably lower, ranks 54th. Average salaries in Switzerland offer roughly 2.5 times the purchasing power of those in Portugal.

Oman offers another surprising example. Ranking fifth globally, ahead of the U.S., Denmark, and Australia, its strong salaries, absence of personal income tax, and relatively low living costs help explain why paychecks stretch further in the oil-rich economy.

These comparisons highlight why affordability depends on both earnings and expenses. Countries with high living costs can still offer strong purchasing power when local wages are high enough to offset them.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic showing how inflation has eroded the purchasing power of $100 since 2019, by country.

• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-where-salaries-have-the-most-purchasing-power/