Moving to another country to spend the rest of one’s life there is a hard choice, even if it is hypothetical. There are many considerations to take into account when comparing the standard of living and making a decision. Denmark would probably be a good choice because it has a virtually identical average income as compared to the United States yet fares much better in terms of stability and human rights.
The three most important factors to compare both countries are arguably human rights, average income, and stability. In terms of rights, Worlddata (2021) gives the United States 81 points, while Denmark receives the perfect score of 100. Average incomes are virtually identical, with $64,350 and $63,010 yearly in the United States and Denmark, respectively (Worlddata, 2020). Finally, while the United States scores reasonably high with 67 points in stability, Denmark outpaces it considerably with its 88 points (Worlddata, 2021). To put it simply, the average income in Denmark is almost as high, but stability and, most importantly, respect for human rights is considerably better.
There is a reason why human rights have the first place in the list, even before average income. It matters little how much money one makes if all of it can be confiscated at will by corrupt government officials under a fabricated pretext or if one is thrown into jail without a trial. Denmark’s score of 100 in terms of human rights suggests that the possibility of that is very low – even lower than in the United States (Worlddata, 2021). This is why human rights are more important than the average income.
To summarize, Denmark seems like a reasonably good choice to move to – at least based on the data available. Average income is virtually the same as in the United States, and the situation with both stability and human rights is better. The latter aspect is particularly important because human rights are a necessary prerequisite to be actually able to enjoy one’s income, whether high or low.
References
Worlddata. (2020). Average income around the world. Web.
Worlddata. (2021). Quality of life in country comparison. Web.