Foreign studies show a direct relationship between the level of education of respondents and their standard of living. Compared to Europeans, there are more people with higher education in Russia. However, we observe that in terms of living standards Russia lags behind European countries. This document focuses on the impact of education on living standards. The purpose of the study is to demonstrate how the level of education received affects the standard of living in Russia and other European countries. Results of regression analysis based on ESS data for 2008-2018 show that the level of education of Russians explains estimates in terms of living standards worse than those of Europeans. Within the framework of this study, an attempt was made to lay the foundation for further research devoted to a more detailed study of the factors influencing the relationship between the level of education and standard of living. It is believed that this makes it possible to understand the reasons for the discrepancy between the high level of human capital and the low estimates of the standard of living of the Russian population and, possibly, to outline ways to solve the existing problem.