The 2025 iPhone Affordability Index

Apple’s latest iPhone lineup has launched worldwide, offering a range of models at different prices. 

To see how accessible these phones are for people around the world, we used the iPhone 17 Pro (256 GB), Apple’s flagship model, as a benchmark.

The iPhone Affordability Index shows how many full workdays, based on 8-hour shifts, the average person in 33 countries needs to buy the phone.

Key Findings

• The Extremes: It takes about 3 days of work in Luxembourg compared to 160 days in India.
• Global Divide: A worker in India must work 51 times longer than someone in Luxembourg to afford the same phone.‍
• The U.S. Benchmark: In the United States, the average person needs just under 4 days.
• The Global Average: Across all countries studied, it takes about 26 days.
• Hard Work, Little Reward: Workers in India and the Philippines work some of the longest weeks but still need 160 and 101 days, respectively, to afford the phone.
  

U.S. iPhone Affordability: State-by-State Breakdown

Within the United States, affordability also varies significantly. 

To see how a resident’s location impacts their purchasing power, we calculated the number of hours an average person in each state needs to work to afford the new iPhone 17 Pro.

• The Extremes: Workers in DC can afford the new iPhone in just 21 hours, while those in Mississippi need to work almost twice as long, at 39 hours.
• Top 5 Most Affordable States: After D.C., the fastest states to earn the new iPhone are Washington (26 hours), Massachusetts (26 hours), California (27 hours), and Minnesota (27 hours).‍
• Top 5 Least Affordable States: The longest waits are in Mississippi (39 hours), followed by New Mexico (38 hours), Arkansas (37 hours), Louisiana (37 hours), and West Virginia (37 hours).

Methodology

We used the official U.S. retail price of the iPhone 17 Pro (256 GB) at $1,099 as a benchmark for all countries and U.S. states.

For the global ranking, average monthly wages and average weekly hours worked for each country were sourced from the International Labour Organization's public statistics database. For the U.S. ranking, average hourly earnings for each state were sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Using this data, we calculated the average hourly wage to determine how many hours an average worker would need to afford the iPhone in their respective country or state. The global figure was converted into 8-hour working days, while the U.S. figure is presented in hours

All data, with links to sources, can be found here. 

Public Use

The data and infographics presented in the 'iPhone Affordability Index' can be used freely for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. We only ask that you credit the author of the research (Tenscope) with a link to this page.