Which place is better to work? Denmark, Norway or Sweden?

Question

In terms of salary, the standard affordable quality of living, which is which?

Answer 1

Salary is higher in Denmark and Norway than in Sweden, though whether Denmark or Norway is higher depends on the field. As an example, you ask about Swedish pharmacist salaries in another question. A pharmacist in Norway can earn from 10000 kr (SEK) more in Norway, up to double wage for management positions. Average salaries for Danish pharmacists are similar to Norwegian, but slightly lower (following links are in Norwegian/Danish, but are the only ones I could find).

http://www.farmaceutene.no/id/2072

http://www.ug.dk/job/ingenioerteknikognaturvid/medicoarb/farmaceut.aspx



Taxes are complicated and based on marginal rates (the income you earn above a certain level is taxed at a higher rate than the income below that level). To simplify, your take-home pay will be the highest percentage of your earned wage in Sweden (and least in Denmark). However, you'll still generally earn a larger amount after tax in Norway.



This report is very helpful in explaining cost of living in the 3 countries:

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Price_levels_of_consumer_goods_and_services



Denmark is ranked most expensive in Europe, but it ranks this highly due to the cost of fuel/electricity and personal transport. In all other categories (food/alcohol, public transport, consumer goods), Norway is more expensive. Sweden ranks between Luxembourg and France, with lower costs than those in furniture (no surprise) and high tech, but higher in most everything else. Denmark and Norway rank in the highest group of GDP per head, and Sweden in the 2nd group. However, all 3 rank in the highest group for price levels.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/product_details/publication?p_product_code=KS-BE-06-002



Affordability is impossible to say without knowing your personal standard of living. If you live comfortably but economically in Norway, you will have one of the highest discretionary incomes in Europe on an average salary (but you can earn more in very high-income jobs in other countries outside of Scandinavia). The same salary in all 3 countries will afford you the highest standard of living in Sweden, but that can't be used to compare since your salary will almost always be higher in the other 2. All three countries have similar benefits.



One thing to consider is that economic problems have hit Sweden the hardest. I found a few articles that said graduate pharmacists are taking lower-paying jobs as dispensers since they can't find work. Norway is lacking health care professionals, specifically pharmacists according to some news articles. This one states that pharmacies are travelling as far as Poland in search for employees to fill positions.

http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/ostafjells/buskerud/1.6911196



My economic knowledge on Denmark isn't as good compared to Sweden/Norway, as I haven't lived there.

Answer 2

Typically, from an average pay to worth ratio, Denmark is the most expensive, with Sweden the least, though Norway is only a tiny bit less expensive than Denmark so the difference would be negligible between the two.

Norway has the highest pay, then Denmark, then Sweden.



Denmark has the highest taxes, then Norway, then Sweden. Though they are all a lot higher than pretty much anywhere else in the world.



In terms of quality of living they are all very interesting countries with a high standard of living, with Norway ranking 1st on HDI, I can't remember off the top of my head where Denmark and Sweden sit, but they are also both equally high. The countries have all consistently ranked in the best to live in, and they have all been ranked as some of the happiest places to live.



I hope that puts it into a bit of perspective for you. To most people, particularly people moving there, or looking at them from the outside, the differences between the countries are very small and not as noticeable as they are overall, since all of them are so different to what most people are used to in their own countries.

Answer 3

I don't know how accurate the income talk above is.

Guess I would assume Swedish GDP / capita was higher than that of Denmark and people in Denmark also pay higher taxes.



Then again Sweden is over-flowed by immigrants which will likely pull down the country (don't ask me why people think this is a good idea) so there's that.



You'll earn more and pay more in Norway.



Also I guess if we destructed the well-fare state (likely not to be done) maybe the educated´s money would last longer in Sweden because there's so many less skilled workers which could provide services for a low price and so on.



In regard of salaries (or the money you get to keep?) from one page I checked it seem like the inequality in them may be the most in Denmark and the most similar ones in Norway (hope I didn't got that the wrong way around.)

That IMHO would mean that your most beneficial salary and living-standard will vary depending on where on the scale you sit.



Very skilled labor will likely earn more and pay less in the US. So for them that's excellent.

Non-skilled labor may live a better life in Sweden due to the redistribution of income (imagine what kind of people that brings as immigrants.)



Anyway, what I really wanted to cover is the rest.



Namely position.



Norway is pretty big with like half the population of Sweden and with people spread out more and their biggest city has about half a million people.

They have lots of mountains littered with lakes and fjords but supposedly all the fjords make it pretty hard to move around along the cost (on the ground.)

It starts higher up north and goes further up north.



In Sweden there are more people and it's also a bigger country, we have bigger lakes, bigger farming areas I assume and bigger cities. There's the Malmö-København region which is even denser together.

The higher immigration if nothing else bring more variety to the kinds of people and maybe to different cultural/ethnic organisations and happenings.



Finland I know too little about really. Even though I'm from Sweden. They have the least immigrants and more of them are from the former Soviet. It also starts more up north than Sweden and I assume there's more trees (and smaller lakes) there.

I don't know how the country is when it comes to cities vs rural areas. I assume Helsinki is where one would want to be.



There's also Åland of course. The archipelago in the Baltic sea between Sweden and Finland.

Both that and Finland was Swedish before but lost to the Russians and Åland is part of Finland now. But most people there speak Swedish. So it's kinda in-between.



Mean-while Denmark is closer to Europe. It too have the København-Malmö region.

It lack the mountains and likely skiing possibilities (Greenland not included ..) and have more farm land. It may lack the large lakes too but have a lot of coast line towards the sea instead.

They have the highest taxes and are more proud of themselves / anti-immigrants and maybe as such a more reliable well-fare system than Sweden will have. The Norwegian one is partly funded by oil money but on the other hand those won't last forever. But maybe long enough ..



So yeah. Long distances, mountains, fjords? Norway.

Farm-land and flat and closer to Europe? Denmark.

In-between? Sweden.

Traditional Nordic country with fewer immigrants and not afraid of the Russians? Finland.

Answer 4

Denmark Standard Of Living

Answer 5

you may check:

http://skeptically.org/economics/id21.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Poverty_Index