That's plausible, though there are a lot of factors and some subjectivities. Most retail goods cost more, but you also get some miscellaneous stuff free or heavily subsidized. For example, in Denmark, it's easier to get around without a car, you don't have to pay for health insurance, the state provides some degree of free child care, etc., all of which adds up to a decent amount of savings, especially for poorer people (for whom those things tend to account for a larger proportion of their budget). I think Scandinavia definitely wins on the lower-class end: a 25th-percentile-income family in Denmark, is probably much better off than a 25th-percentile-income family in the US. I'm not sure what the comparison would come out as at the 50th percentile. It might depend on where exactly in Scandinavia and the U.S. you are, and answers to some lifestyle-preference questions (for example, do you actively prefer having a car, or do you actively prefer being able to get away without having a car?). At the top end, the U.S. diverges increasingly above.
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That's plausible, though there are a lot of factors and some subjectivities. Most retail goods cost more, but you also get some miscellaneous stuff free or heavily subsidized. For example, in Denmark, it's easier to get around without a car, you don't have to pay for health insurance, the state provides some degree of free child care, etc., all of which adds up to a decent amount of savings, especially for poorer people (for whom those things tend to account for a larger proportion of their budget). I think Scandinavia definitely wins on the lower-class end: a 25th-percentile-income family in Denmark, is probably much better off than a 25th-percentile-income family in the US. I'm not sure what the comparison would come out as at the 50th percentile. It might depend on where exactly in Scandinavia and the U.S. you are, and answers to some lifestyle-preference questions (for example, do you actively prefer having a car, or do you actively prefer being able to get away without having a car?). At the top end, the U.S. diverges increasingly above.