The way I always put it is that it's better to be rich in America, but most definitely, inarguably better to be poor in Norway, by almost every metric.
Scandinavia is great if you are rich. Sweden for instance would be a great choice for anyone with a trust fund. You would have to pay almost no taxes and still get all the services. It is becoming rich that is hard. Though you could argue that a lot more people get the chance. The problem is that it has also become increasingly hard to be frugal. Especially when it comes to cost of housing, but also the cost of a good quality of life in general.