The article explores data from the European Social Survey and Russian social survey (2024 and 2016) from the standpoint of the verification of everyday consciousness, a concept that modern hermeneutic and phenomenological schools of sociology believe to be rooted in the human lifeworld. The survey findings reflect both individual and collective experience and provide a basis for scrutiny of the quality of life in Russia and for cross-country comparisons. Based on the 2024 and 2016 data, five clusters were identified, covering the following closely related quality-of-life indicators: standard of living (well-being), quality of the social environment, personal well-being, personal safety, and opportunities for self-development. The comparison showed that Russia performs at or above the level of moderately developed European countries across a number of quality-of-life indicators. It also exhibits positive dynamics and outperforms some developed countries (e.g., in evaluations of healthcare and education, safety and security, personal well-being, all of which have improved since 2016). By contrast, Russia performs substantially worse than Europe in such areas as the standard of living, industrial democracy, opportunities for self-fulfillment in the workplace, and trust in the judicial and legal system and police. The turbulent development of the country and changes in the conceptual foundations of its civilizational path cannot but affect the quality of life of its population, the study of which remains a priority for the modern sociology.