The same job, priced across countries
What an occupation pays in the four markets our sources post in, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, from live job postings. Two numbers for each: the headline pay, and the same pay adjusted for cost of living, which is the one that tells you where a salary actually goes further. Pricing a specific remote offer against a location is the remote salary calculator’s job.
Which market pays most
Median across a common basket of 65 occupations priced in all three of the best-covered markets, so the comparison is like with like. Cost of living is a price-level index against the United States at 1.00; the adjusted column is pay divided by that index, in US-equivalent purchasing power.
| Country | Median pay | Cost of living | Adjusted | Occupations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $104,857 | 1.00 | $104,857 | 149 |
| Australia | $78,843 | 0.89 | $88,727 | 38 |
| Canada | $69,550 | 0.84 | $82,376 | 68 |
| United Kingdom | $65,412 | 0.82 | $79,654 | 116 |
United States posts the highest headline pay. It stays on top once cost of living is taken out, but the gap to the rest narrows: a lower cost of living is exactly how a smaller nominal salary buys a comparable life.
The same job, four markets
Median posted pay for one occupation across the four markets. Click a role for its full distribution, seniority curve, and trend.
| Occupation | United States | United Kingdom | Canada | Australia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | $185,617 | $82,468 | $105,186 | $82,426 |
| Product Manager | $171,066 | $83,296 | $98,367 | $107,513 |
| Project Manager | $126,568 | $76,285 | $81,338 | $118,029 |
| Accountant | $98,149 | $61,396 | $54,406 | $60,924 |
| Marketing Manager | $137,211 | $61,079 | $63,814 | $62,716 |
| Registered Nurse | $112,381 | $65,412 | $71,698 | $73,765 |
| Mechanical Engineer | $112,630 | $68,218 | $74,501 | $89,451 |
Weighing a remote offer?
A number in one country is not the same number in another. FairElephant prices a specific offer against location, cost of living, and remote-market rates.
Related
- All salaries by occupationthe full board
- The remote-pay premium, testedwhat remote does to pay
Method: medians are the middle of the posted blended band per occupation and country, from live job postings with stated pay in our July 2026 corpus. Coverage is limited to the markets our sources post in at volume, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia; this is a cross-market comparison of those, not a global ranking. The country table uses a common basket of 65 occupations priced in the US, UK, and Canada. Cost-of-living index from the same per-occupation price levels used across the salary board. Definitions in the glossary.