It sounds almost backwards. The United States pays its senior physicians some of the highest salaries in the world, yet the doctors actually doing the work during their training years, the residents grinding through eighty hour weeks in teaching hospitals, often earn far less than most people assume. Once you look at that specific slice of the medical profession and line it up against national wage averages elsewhere, a surprising pattern shows up.
Several countries now post average annual wages, across every profession, every industry, every job title, that outpace what a US medical resident brings home in a year. This isn’t a knock on American medicine or its long term earning potential. It’s simply a reflection of how training pay works in the US, and how strong wage floors have become in a handful of wealthy nations.
Switzerland
Switzerland sits at the very top of the global wage tables, and by a wide margin. Wage earnings across the OECD countries averaged USD 44,439 in 2024 at market exchange rates, while Switzerland had the highest level at USD 103,465.[1] On a purchasing power parity basis the number settles a bit, but Switzerland still leads every other OECD member by a comfortable distance.
Compare that to a US medical resident. The average medical resident is earning around $75,000 annually, according to Medscape’s 2025 Resident Salary and Debt Report.[2] A Swiss factory worker, office clerk, or retail manager earning the national average takes home more than a US doctor still in training, even before accounting for Switzerland’s famously generous benefits and shorter working hours.
Luxembourg
Luxembourg is tiny, but its wage figures punch well above its size. Recent 2024 OECD data places Luxembourg’s average annual wage at 90,384 dollars, PPP adjusted, putting it second only to Switzerland among OECD members.[3] The country’s outsized financial sector and dense concentration of EU institutions help push pay upward across nearly every job category.
Set beside American residency pay, the gap is stark. The national average salary for PGY-1 medical residents in the US sits at 68,166 dollars annually, and averaged across eight years of training residents earn around 79,939 dollars, according to the AAMC’s 2025 survey.[4] Even a mid career resident nearing the end of training in the US would need a raise to match what an average Luxembourgish worker already earns.
Denmark
Denmark has built its reputation on strong labor protections and a wage floor that lifts even entry level jobs. The same 2024 OECD figures put Denmark’s average annual wage at 88,971 dollars, PPP adjusted, placing it third among wealthy nations.[3] Danish pay scales tend to compress the gap between low and high earners more than most countries, which keeps the national average consistently high.
That figure comfortably clears what a first year US resident physician takes home. According to 2025 data from Panacea Financial’s Residents and Fellows Report, the average first year medical resident earns 65,557 dollars.[5] A Danish barista or warehouse worker earning the national median is, on paper, out earning a newly licensed American doctor.
Germany
Germany rounds out the top four in the same 2024 OECD wage rankings. Switzerland’s levels remain the highest amongst OECD countries, followed by Luxembourg, Denmark and Germany, based on the OECD’s Pensions at a Glance 2025 report.[1] Germany’s strong manufacturing base, powerful labor unions, and mandatory collective bargaining agreements in many sectors keep average pay elevated across a huge share of the workforce.
The comparison to US resident pay holds up here too. The average salary for a medical resident in the US is approximately 60,000 dollars per year, with first year residents earning slightly less and salaries increasing incrementally each year.[6] A German average wage worker, whether in an auto plant or a mid sized office, is earning noticeably more than that baseline American resident stipend.
Belgium
Belgium closes out the list, sitting just behind Germany in the latest wage rankings. The 2024 OECD data lists Belgium’s average annual wage at 86,545 dollars, PPP adjusted, keeping it firmly among the highest paid workforces in the world.[3] Belgium’s dense concentration of EU institutions, international companies, and strong union coverage all contribute to wages that hold up well against the rest of Europe.
Against that backdrop, US resident pay still looks modest. The average resident salary is around 64,000 dollars per year, well below what licensed primary care physicians or specialists eventually earn once training ends.[7] A Belgian office worker or skilled tradesperson earning the national average is, for now, out earning that same trainee doctor across the Atlantic.
To be clear, this comparison applies specifically to medical residents, the doctors still completing their required training years in US hospitals, not to fully licensed attending physicians. Once residency ends, US doctor pay climbs sharply, often into the low to mid six figures depending on specialty. The gap described here exists for a limited window early in a physician’s career, one that reflects how American residency pay has lagged behind cost of living increases even as wages in wealthy European economies have kept climbing.
