The US News and World Report ranked the US among the Top 10 Best Countries to Live In, at No. 7. The rankings, formed in partnership with BAV Group and the Wharton School of UPenn are based on a survey of 20,000 global citizens.

Not surprisingly, then, the US performs very well in several measures of well-being relative to most other countries in the Better Life Index. It ranks at the top in housing and above the average in income and wealth, health status, jobs and earnings, education and skills, personal security, subjective well-being, environmental quality, social connections, and civic engagement. It ranks below average in work-life balance, though.

When asked by the OECD’s Better Life Index to rate their general satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10, people in the US gave it a 6.9 grade on average, higher than the OECD average of 6.5. There’s a reason for that. America’s average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is $45,284 a year, significantly higher than the OECD average of $33,604 a year, and the highest figure in the OECD.

However, there is a considerable gap between the richest and poorest in the US – the top 20 per cent of the population earn nearly nine times as much as the bottom 20 per cent.