America is one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world. The relentless focus on capitalism has led the American economy to become the largest in the world and enabled the rise of some of the world's biggest and most advanced companies. These have created entirely new industries by themselves and shaped the modern world as we know it. For instance, online retailing courtesy of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), social media courtesy of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), and consumer technology and the smartphone courtesy of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are industries that have been shaped by American companies.
At the same time, some of the best universities in the world are in the U.S. For instance, Quacquarelli Symonds Limited (QS)'s ranking of the world's top universities in 2023 shows that five of the top ten universities are in America - the highest number for any country. America's gross domestic product (GDP) sits at $26 trillion in nominal terms according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - the largest in the world and bigger than the combined economic outputs of the next two countries on the list, China and Japan. Additionally, the world's two largest stock markets are in the U.S., and so are several of the largest companies in terms of both market capitalization and employees.
However, not all is well in the land of the free and the home of the brave. The dominance of capitalism in the American national fabric has created its own set of problems. At the very heart of these lies the primary difference between capitalism - which focuses on private enterprise - and socialism, which aims to develop an all powerful state that is responsible for resource distribution. A focus on the former leaves more power to private individuals and firms in the U.S., and ends up creating a massive disparity in standards of living. For instance, America has countless entrepreneurs and business moguls who are worth hundreds of billions of dollars. On the other hand the median American income is $70,784 as of 2021 - dropping from $71,186 in 2020. Interestingly, though, Asian households are relatively more prosperous as their median household income sits quite high at $101,418. At the same time, inequality also grew in the U.S. between 2020 and 2021, since the share in aggregate income by percentile dropped for the lowest, second, third, and fourth quintiles. On the other hand, the highest and the top five percent saw their share grow cumulatively by 3%, with the top five percent seeing the largest growth at 2.2%.
The Census Bureau provides precise information on the rising inequality in incomes, as it points out:
The ratio of the 90th to 10th percentile increased from 12.90 in 2020 to 13.53 in 2021, meaning income at the 90th percentile was 13.53 times higher than income at the 10th percentile, an increase of 4.9 percent. The ratio of the 50th to 10th percentile (“lower-tail” inequality) increased 4.0 percent, from 4.34 in 2020 to 4.52 in 2021, while the ratio of the 90th to 50th percentile (“upper-tail” inequality) was not significantly different over this period. Specifically, household income decreased 4.4 percent at the 10th percentile limit, while the change in income at the 90th percentile limit was not statistically significant between 2020 and 2021. This indicates that declines in income at the bottom of the income distribution may be contributing to the increase in the Gini index.
This inequality, coupled with some of the highest healthcare costs in the world, often compel some folks to leave America for regions with low costs of living, public healthcare, and lesser inequality. Research from Gallup Polls shows that as much as 16% of Americans wanted to leave the country in 2018, growing from the 10% that had expressed the desire to do so in the previous year. Adding to this, data from Washington Post shows that Mexico is the most popular destination for American immigrants, with Canada coming in at a distant second place. As to the reasons why people leave the U.S., immigration firm Renovating Life shows that poor gun control, low work life balance, student debt, and political polarization are some of the biggest reasons that people look to start a new life elsewhere.
Best Countries for Americans to Live in Europe
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With these details in mind, let's take a look at some of the best countries for Americans to live in Europe.
Our Methodology
To compile our list of the best countries for Americans to live in Europe, we consulted several sources. These include a survey from Pew Research that ranks the countries with the most favorable opinion of America; Expat Insider's ranking of the world's top countries for expats by living standards; our own related coverage on best countries for Americans and expats; and HSBC's future outlook for top countries for expats. We picked European countries from these sources and assigned them the corresponding rankings they received on these lists. In case a country did not appear on a list, it was awarded 15 points. The rankings were averaged out with a lower score indicating better performance. This methodology ends up removing the bias that any single source might have, and it provides for a more accurate analysis. If you're interested in reading more on this topic, be sure to check out 25 Best Countries for Americans to Visit and 25 Best Countries for Expats.
Best Countries for Americans to Live in Europe
15. Kingdom of Sweden
Insider Monkey's Score: 20
The Kingdom of Sweden is one of the most prosperous and developed countries in the world. Sweden is a first world nation with high levels of human development and prosperity. Sweden is the largest European country in the Nordic region, and it has a $712 billion economy and a GDP per capita of $65,842. Sweden also has one of the strongest corporate sectors in the world, with a wide variety of multinational behemoths such as Volvo and Ericsson tracing their roots to the country.
14. Kingdom of Norway
Insider Monkey's Score: 19.7
The Kingdom of Norway is another Nordic country. Like other Nordic countries, Norway is also a welfare state, which provides universal healthcare and strong social security support. At the same time, the Norwegian government also maintains tight control over the corporate sector, with most of the country's biggest companies owned by the government - in a rare phenomenon for a Western nation.
13. Hungary
Insider Monkey's Score: 19.0
Hungary is a landlocked Central European country. It has a $427 billion GDP and a $43,907 GDP per capita. Hungary has a diversified economy as it makes and sells a large number of cars, car parts, medical products, agricultural products, and others on the international market.
12. Denmark
Insider Monkey's Score: 19.0
Denmark is the third Nordic country on our list, which is unsurprising given the highly prosperous and population friendly governance models in the country. Denmark has a colonial past and it itself is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, which is made of thousands of islands most of which are uninhabited.
11. Federal Republic of Germany
Insider Monkey's Score: 18.0
The Federal Republic of Germany is the largest economy in Europe, one of the most developed countries in the world, and a global power. The German economy is worth a whopping $5 trillion and it has a GDP per capita of $63,835. German car manufacturers such as BMW and Audi are some of the biggest car companies in the world.
10. Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Insider Monkey's Score: 17.0
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a Western European landlocked country with some of the highest levels of per capita production. It aims to play a crucial role in the astronautics industry and asteroid mining.
9. Kingdom of Belgium
Insider Monkey's Score: 15.3
Belgium is a Northwestern European country. It exports a variety of products such as cars, medical products, diamonds, petroleum, and other products. It also ranks high on the human development index.
8. Republic of Finland
Insider Monkey's Score: 15.0
Finland is the final Nordic country on our list. It has been inhabited for thousands of years and has a $321 billion economy. Finland has a diversified economy and exports large amounts of steel, machinery, paper, cars, and petroleum products.
7. French Republic
Insider Monkey's Score: 15.0
France is a global power and has some of the largest fashion and aerospace companies in the world.
6. Netherlands
Insider Monkey's Score: 14.7
The Netherlands is a prosperous Northwestern European country. It has a $1.2 trillion GDP and a GDP per capita of $69,715 - one of the highest in the world. The Netherlands has a diversified economy, and it exports a variety of different products such as medical products, cars, petroleum, iron, cheese, and other agricultural products. Additionally, the country also has a variety of multinational companies in different sectors such as financial services, machinery, and aerospace. Some of the most well known Dutch companies are the petroleum giant Shell and the chip manufacturing equipment maker ASML - which holds a monopoly in its industry.
