Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in United States instead of Ireland, you would:

Health

live 1.1 years less

In Ireland, the average life expectancy is 82 years (79 years for men, 84 years for women) as of 2022. In United States, that number is 81 years (78 years for men, 83 years for women) as of 2022.

be 43.1% more likely to be obese

In Ireland, 25.3% of adults are obese as of 2016. In United States, that number is 36.2% of people as of 2016.

Economy

be 21.9% less likely to be unemployed

In Ireland, 5.0% of adults are unemployed as of 2019. In United States, that number is 3.9% as of 2018.

pay a 17.5% lower top tax rate

Ireland has a top tax rate of 48.0% as of 2016. In United States, the top tax rate is 39.6% as of 2016.

make 32.9% less money

Ireland has a GDP per capita of $89,700 as of 2020, while in United States, the GDP per capita is $60,200 as of 2020.

be 15.3% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Ireland, 13.1% live below the poverty line as of 2018. In United States, however, that number is 15.1% as of 2010.

Life

be 3.8 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Ireland, approximately 5.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In United States, 19.0 women do as of 2017.

be 49.0% more likely to die during infancy

In Ireland, approximately 3.5 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In United States, on the other hand, 5.2 children do as of 2022.

Expenditures

spend 47.1% more on education

Ireland spends 3.4% of its total GDP on education as of 2018. United States spends 5.0% of total GDP on education as of 2014.

spend 2.5 times more on healthcare

Ireland spends 6.7% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In United States, that number is 16.8% of GDP as of 2019.

Geography

see 13.8 times more coastline

Ireland has a total of 1,448 km of coastline. In United States, that number is 19,924 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Internal Revenue Service, The Office of the Revenue Commissioners.

United States: At a glance

United States (sometimes abbreviated US or USA) is a sovereign country in North America, with a total land area of approximately 9,147,593 sq km. Britain's American colonies broke with the mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation of the United States of America following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions. The two most traumatic experiences in the nation's history were the Civil War (1861-65), in which a northern Union of states defeated a secessionist Confederacy of 11 southern slave states, and the Great Depression of the 1930s, an economic downturn during which about a quarter of the labor force lost its jobs. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's most powerful nation state. Since the end of World War II, the economy has achieved relatively steady growth, low unemployment and inflation, and rapid advances in technology.
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How big is United States compared to Ireland? See an in-depth size comparison.

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