Australia is more expense then the USA when it comes to everything. Rent, grocery, internet, etc. Australian consumers also have on average less buying power then American citizens. [1]
The medium household income for both countries is nearly identical. $30,932 (USA) vs $30,077 (AUS) ~2.76% [2]
So income is ~3% higher in America, but rent is ~46% more expensive in Australia (Groceries are 32.5%). I would say its based on factors other then average income.
I looked at the wiki entry but something isn't right about that. I don't understand where they're getting the $30k figure.
The median household income in the US is over $53,000 - not $30,932. I think it's much higher in Australia as well (for example they list nominal median at $47k on the wiki).
The Wikipedia table is apparently median household equivalent adult income. This is the somewhat obscure way the OECD accounts for varying household sizes amongst compared nations:
Australian figures and American figures aren't comparable. Australia is one of the most urbanised populations in the world; in the USA cost-of-living figures are dragged down because an enormous bulk of the population is scattered across cheap locations.
Australia is more expense then the USA when it comes to everything. Rent, grocery, internet, etc. Australian consumers also have on average less buying power then American citizens. [1]
The medium household income for both countries is nearly identical. $30,932 (USA) vs $30,077 (AUS) ~2.76% [2]
So income is ~3% higher in America, but rent is ~46% more expensive in Australia (Groceries are 32.5%). I would say its based on factors other then average income.
[1] Numbeo.com
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_household_income