Charts for people who complain about America.
You've heard it at dinner, read it in the replies and watched it go viral. America is broke, mean and falling behind Europe. We pulled the numbers from the World Bank, the OECD, the Census Bureau and the Federal Reserve. Below are 16 exhibits. Each one starts with a complaint and ends with the data. Open the table under any chart to check our work.
Exhibit 01 · The complaint“Europeans are richer than we are.”
+40%US GDP per person vs. the EU, 2025
GDP per person, adjusted for what money actually buys in each country. In 1990 the US–EU gap was 33%. It's been widening ever since.
Source: World Bank, GDP per capita, PPP (constant 2021 international $).
Exhibit 02 · The complaint“Europe is catching up.”
+45%Size of the US economy vs. the EU, 2025
Total GDP in US dollars. The 27 EU countries last outproduced America in 2011. Since then the US economy has added $15 trillion; the EU has added $5 trillion.
Source: World Bank, GDP (current US$). EU = the 27 current members, for every year.
Exhibit 03 · The complaint“The South is basically a developing country.”
$55KMississippi GDP per person. France: $49K
GDP per person in 2025, in US dollars. Arkansas and West Virginia, the next two poorest states, beat Germany and the UK. And things cost less in Mississippi than in Paris.
Sources: state GDP from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and population from the Census Bureau, both via FRED; countries from the World Bank.
Exhibit 04 · The complaint“Only the rich do well here.”
#1Median income per person in the G7
Median income per person per year, after taxes and benefits, adjusted for local prices. The median is the person exactly in the middle, so billionaires don't skew it. Each country's latest survey year is shown.
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform via Our World in Data (daily median income × 365).
Exhibit 05 · The complaint“American workers are underpaid.”
$87KAverage US wage. OECD average: $65K
Average yearly pay per full-time worker in 2025, adjusted for local prices. The average American worker makes about $26,000 a year more than the average French one.
Source: OECD, average annual wages (constant prices, USD PPP).
Exhibit 06 · The complaint“The economy is falling apart.”
2.2×US growth vs. the euro area since 2019
Inflation-adjusted GDP, with the end of 2019 set to 100. The US is up 16%. The euro area, the UK and Japan are each up 6–7%.
Source: BEA, Eurostat, ONS and Japan's Cabinet Office, via FRED (GDPC1, CLVMNACSCAB1GQEA19, NGDPRSAXDCGBQ, JPNRGDPEXP). Seasonally adjusted.
Exhibit 07 · The complaint“Incomes haven't gone up in decades.”
$87KMedian household income, 2025. A record.
Median household income, adjusted for inflation. The household in the middle made $87,460 in 2025. That's $25,550 more than in 1984, after inflation.
Source: US Census Bureau via FRED, real median household income (MEHOINUSA672N).
Exhibit 08 · The complaint“The middle class is disappearing.”
26%Households making $150K+. In 1967: 5%
Share of households in each income group, adjusted for inflation. In 1967, 1 in 22 households made $150,000 or more in today's money. Now more than 1 in 4 do. The share under $50,000 fell by a third.
Source: US Census Bureau, Income in the United States: 2024, Table A-2.
Exhibit 09 · The complaint“Nobody can afford groceries.”
6.6%Share of income spent on groceries. 1929: 19%
Share of disposable income Americans spend on groceries. In 1929 it was about $1 of every $5. In 2025 it was $1 of every $15, the lowest on record.
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis via FRED. Food and drink bought to eat at home (DFXARC1A027NBEA) ÷ disposable personal income (A067RC1A027NBEA).
Exhibit 10 · The complaint“We're hooked on foreign oil.”
+63%More oil than Russia, 2024
Oil production, measured by the energy it contains. The US now produces over 60% more than Russia or Saudi Arabia.
Source: Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy via Our World in Data. Includes crude, shale oil, oil sands and natural gas liquids.
Exhibit 11 · The complaint“Europe does energy better.”
3.9×What Europe paid for gas vs. the US, past 12 months
Monthly wholesale price per million BTU. Over the past 12 months, European gas cost 3.9 times as much as American gas. At the end of 2021 it was nearly 10 times as much.
Source: IMF Primary Commodity Prices via FRED (PNGASEUUSDM, PNGASUSUSDM). US = Henry Hub.
Exhibit 12 · The complaint“America doesn't care about the climate.”
−20%US CO₂ since 2005, while GDP grew 46%
Inflation-adjusted GDP and CO₂ emissions, with 2005 set to 100. Mostly because cheap natural gas and renewables pushed out coal.
Sources: World Bank (GDP, constant US$); Global Carbon Project via Our World in Data (CO₂).
Exhibit 13 · The complaint“Our cities are choking on smog.”
−36%US fine-particle pollution vs. the EU average
Average exposure to fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in 2023. Lower is better. The EU average is more than 50% higher than America's.
Source: World Bank, PM2.5 mean annual exposure.
Exhibit 14 · The complaint“Young people can't get a start here.”
9.3%US youth unemployment. EU: 16.2%
Unemployment rate for 15- to 24-year-olds in 2025. The EU's rate is 75% higher than America's. In Spain and Sweden it's about 1 in 4.
Source: World Bank, from ILO modeled estimates.
Exhibit 15 · The complaint“Everyone wants to leave America.”
52MImmigrants living in the US, 2024
People living in a country they weren't born in, 2024. Everyone says they want to leave America. Everyone else is trying to get in.
Source: UN DESA International Migrant Stock via Our World in Data.
Exhibit 16 · The complaint“America is falling behind in science.”
405Science & economics Nobels. Next best, the UK: 95
Prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine and economics since 1901, counted by the country of the winner's institution. The US has 405, more than the next 26 countries combined.
Source: Nobel Prize API. Each prize counted once, under the winner's first listed institution.