WHILE the United States is the world's superpower, Australia is arguably stronger in many aspects.

So how do the two compare?

News.com.au has compiled the facts and figures to compare what really counts - the quality of life in each nation - and show you how your life may differ if you lived in the US.

If you lived in the US you would likely be paid more for a professional position and less for a minimum wage job.

You'd also find it harder to get a job in the first place - unemployment is nearly twice as high in the US and the gender pay gap is significantly wider. Australian women earn 83.1 per cent of a man's average salary. US women earn just 77 per cent of what the average US man makes.

On the upside you would probably make more money in the US. In 2008, the median household income was $37,690 for Americans compared to $27,039 in Australia, in US dollars (purchasing power parity) according to the OECD.

However, you are also more likely to live in poverty in the US. The UN Human Povery Index shows that 12.2 per cent of Australians live on less than half of the median income, considered the best gauge of wealth distribution.

For US citizens, the number of people living on that amount or less jumps to 17 per cent.

Both Australia and the US have similar histories founded on immigration. But in the US today you have less than half the chance of knowing someone born in another country than in Australia.

Just 12 per cent of Americans were born outside of the US. More than one in five Australians (27 per cent) were born overseas.

For every 1000 people in Australia, there is a net migration increase of 6.03 people, almost two whole people above the United States’ 4.18.

More American finish high school, but Australians study for longer.

Australians spend an average of 21 years in education (from primary through to university), far above the 16-year average of Americans. But as you can see in the data above, more US citizens over the age of 25 have completed high school.

According to the US Census, 38.54 per cent of all US citizens over the age of 25 had obtained an Associate or Bachelor’s degree. More than 59 per cent of Australians had obtained an Advanced Diploma or Bachelor's degree by 2006.

If you did gain a tertiary education in the US, you would pay much more for it - an average of $20,517 a year for a private independent institution. In Australia, that's just $7902.

The US spends more on healthcare per capita than Australia but many US citizens still suffer under exorbitant costs. In 2007, 62 per cent of people filing for bankruptcy cited high medical expenses.

Of the total expenditure on health in the US, the government contributes 18.7 per cent. The Australian government spends 70 per cent.

The top five causes of death are the same for both nations, with similar rates of fatal cancer, but cardiovascular disease is responsible for 1.3 times the number of deaths.

And respiratory diseases cause nearly 60 per cent more deaths per 100,000 people in the US than in Australia.

If you lived in the US you would be twice as likely to have HIV/AIDS. The number of people living with the illness is 0.6 per cent in the US and 0.3 per cent in Australia.

There are 2.999 doctors for every 1000 Australians, just above the US rate of 2.672.

The Australian lifestyle is good for you.

Australians live 40.8 months longer than our American counterparts, making it to the ripe old age of 81.9 on average.

Australian women born today have a life expectancy of 83.9 years, longer than US women at 80.8 years. The difference is similar for men with 79.3 years expected life time for Aussie blokes and 75.6 for Americans.

Infant mortality is also higher in the United States with 6.06 deaths out of every 1000 compared to Australia’s rate of 4.61/1000.

Design: Aurelie Perthuis, Vincent Vergara, Simon Wright

Edit: The article initially stated average incomes for Australia and the US. This has been corrected to show the amounts are median incomes, using OECD purchasing power parity.