So what about if I'm living in the UK which has the 4th highest price on that list?

Can I complain about that deal?

How many pounds do you earn in a year?

The average Chinese worker makes about 1000 pounds a year. The higher paying jobs, about 2500 pounds.

Your pound is worth $2 USD. Last time I went to England, all prices were nearly double the US prices, as were all the salaries.

I would say you're paying a proportionate price.

Sure you can and the UK is adding about $4.85 US
a gallon in taxes to boot. Unreal

As I'm no longer a manual labourer, what I earn is not so relevant here.

Also, China is not strictly speaking in the same "world" in terms of first, second and third as the UK, so it's sort of apples and oranges.

But that's not really what I'd take issue with - it's this:

In 2006 (the latest year for which such things are available, and really not much has changed since then) the average salary in the UK was $36,000. In the US it was $38,000. I've quoted both in US$ for ease. I'd bring in sources too, but I found them all last night before Plime went down and really, not worth bothering to find them again. Based on that, the prices in the UK are exceptionally high.

But yeah, the Chinese get a worse deal than me. Mind you, average wages in India are half those in China yet they pay twice what the Chinese do so they can complain even more.

Doesn't mean I can't b***h and grumble a little. Especially as fuel prices in the UK have gone up since that wikichart was compiled.

It is kind of scary - California apparently comes close but a little higher up on that same page it points out that on top of the fuel duty we also pay VAT*, which pushes it up to a 188% price hike on the cost of the petrol.

Excuse me one moment - I think I may have to go riot in the streets in protest.



*Value Added Tax - a premium put on items that are considered luxuries. I guess the closest equivalent is state tax.

I would assume that also but at 17% it's pretty steep, even worse than NY.

I haven't researched it at all but it's somewhat difficult to understand how some states, Like Florida, have no state income tax at all. We have a 6 % sales tax and quite low real estate taxes.(Again, compared to NY, outside of NYC) I'm not sure how they pull it off.

I visited Scotland about 5 years ago and was surprised at the higher cost of living than the US.

And Scotland, relatively speaking, is cheaper. As a rough guide, it gets more expensive the further south you go.

Which is making me wonder why the hell I moved to the south coast...