The standard of living in the United States is one of the highest in the world by almost any measure. On measures such as the UN Human Development Index the United States is always in the top ten, though generally ranked lower than the Scandinavian countries, Canada, Australia, and Japan; Canada and Norway have alternately held the top spot for some time. The Standard of living refers to the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people. ... The UN Human Development Index (HDI) measures poverty, literacy, education, life expectancy, and other factors. ... Scandinavia, Fennoscandia, and the Kola Peninsula. ...

The United States measures better under some measures of standard of living than others. Americans are some of the wealthiest people in the world, with a very high GDP per capita. Americans are top in the world for most material possessions. The numbers of televisions, vehicles, and other such products per person are considerably higher than in any other country. For instance, the United States has some 754 televisions for every thousand people; no other major state is even above 700, with Japan being closest at 680/1000. Vehicles are non-living means of transportation. ...

The United States also consistently has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world, usually only beaten by Japan; however, the measures used to establish such a rate are controversial and may not always be comparable among countries.

While the United States' mean wealth is the highest of any major country and its median income is near the highest in the world, there may be a relatively unequal income distribution. Much of the extra money in the United States is the result of a much wealthier top section of the population. The United States also has more people below the defined poverty line than 26 other countries; however, the measures used to establish a poverty line are controversial and may not always be comparable among countries. The wealthiest ten percent of Americans are 15 times richer than the bottom ten percent. In Japan, for instance, the ratio is only 4.2:1. Some regard this imbalance as a product of the United States' long policy of having a more free market economy, while other countries are more ready to sacrifice net wealth in favor of equality. The poverty line is the level of income below which one cannot afford to purchase all the resources one requires to live. ... A free market is an idealized market, where all economic decisions and actions by individuals regarding transfer of money, goods, and services are voluntary, and are therefore devoid of coercion and theft (some definitions of coercion are inclusive of theft). Colloquially and loosely, a free market economy is an economy...