Social Worker Salary in Norway: What You Need to Know
Social Workers in Norway earn an estimated $43,894 USD per year, which is approximately kr469,666 NOK at current exchange rates. This places Norway at #10 out of 42 countries in our global salary ranking for this occupation.
Compared to the United States, where Social Workers earn an estimated $55,000 USD per year, the salary in Norway is 20% lower. This difference reflects variations in local economies, cost of living, labor market conditions, and industry demand for Social Workers in Norway.
Purchasing Power and Cost of Living
While nominal salary figures provide a useful starting point, they don't tell the full story. When adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), the salary for a Social Worker in Norway is equivalent to $40,449 USD. This means that after accounting for differences in the cost of goods and services, the real buying power of this salary is actually lower than the nominal figure suggests, indicating a relatively higher cost of living in Norway.
To put this in more tangible terms, using The Economist's Big Mac Index as an informal measure of purchasing power, a Social Worker's annual salary in Norway could buy approximately 7,012 Big Macs per year. This everyday comparison helps illustrate the real-world purchasing power of this salary beyond abstract currency conversions.
How Norway Compares Globally
Among the 42 countries we track, a Social Worker in Norway earns more than 79% of Social Workers worldwide. The highest-paying country for this role is United States at $60,500 USD, while the lowest is India at $6,721 USD.
These estimates are derived from publicly available data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), OECD average wages, World Bank purchasing power parity factors, and The Economist's Big Mac Index. The salary for each country is calculated by adjusting the U.S. baseline salary using country-specific wage ratios and sector multipliers. While these figures provide a useful benchmark, actual salaries can vary significantly based on experience level, company size, specific city or region, education, and industry sector.