Weekly earnings of employees, including distribution of earnings and hourly earnings, by State, Occupation, Industry and Qualifications
To learn more about our different labour measures, their purpose and how to use them, see our Guide to labour statistics. It provides summary information on labour market topics including Earnings data.
Statistics from the Characteristics of Employment survey are also published in three other topic-based releases.
Characteristics of Employment microdata for 2014 to 2022 will be available in TableBuilder and DataLab from 16 December 2022. For more information, refer to Microdata and TableBuilder: Characteristics of Employment.
| August 2022 | August 2021 | August 2017 | 2021 to 2022 (% change) | 2017 to 2022 (% change p.a.) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | $1,425 | $1,380 | $1,200 | 3.3% | 3.5% |
| Women | $1,094 | $1,030 | $899 | 6.2% | 4.0% |
| Total | $1,250 | $1,200 | $1,019 | 4.2% | 4.2% |
Note: Weekly earnings in main job
In August 2022, median weekly earnings for employees was $1,250, up $50 from $1,200 in August 2021. Median weekly earnings increased at a faster rate for women than men over the past 5 years, in part because the proportion of women working full-time increased.
| August 2022 | August 2021 | August 2017 | 2021 to 2022 (% change) | 2017 to 2022 (% change p.a.) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | $38.80 | $37.50 | $31.60 | 3.3% | 4.2% |
| Women | $35.70 | $34.60 | $29.00 | 3.1% | 4.3% |
| Total | $37.30 | $36.00 | $30.00 | 3.5% | 4.5% |
Note: Hourly earnings in main job
In August 2022,
Earnings for all percentiles increased. The largest increases were seen in the 10th and 25th percentiles, both increasing by 6.7% since August 2021.
| August 2022 | August 2021 | August 2017 | 2021 to 2022 (% change) | 2017 to 2022 (% change p.a.) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th Percentile | $400 | $375 | $320 | 6.6% | 4.6% |
| 25th Percentile | $800 | $750 | $660 | 6.7% | 3.9% |
| 50th Percentile | $1,250 | $1,200 | $1,019 | 4.2% | 4.2% |
| 75th Percentile | $1,900 | $1,811 | $1,545 | 4.9% | 4.2% |
| 90th Percentile | $2,720 | $2,645 | $2,250 | 2.8% | 3.9% |
Note: weekly earnings in main job
In August 2020, there were considerable changes to the distribution of earnings. Around 920,000 employees earned between $700 and $799 per week (which included jobs supported by $750 payments from the JobKeeper wage subsidy), which was higher than the 570,000 earning the same amount in August 2019. In August 2021, this number dropped to 500,000 employees.
Note: In August 2020 there was a larger number of people than usual earning around $750 per week, which was the amount of the JobKeeper wage subsidy.
The state or territory with the highest median weekly earnings in August 2022 was the Australian Capital Territory at $1,518 per week, followed by the Northern Territory ($1,400), Western Australia ($1,315) and New South Wales and Victoria (both $1,250). The lowest were Tasmania ($1,075 per week), South Australia ($1,125) and Queensland ($1,211).
Of the state capital cities, Perth had the highest median weekly earnings ($1,305 per week), followed by Sydney and Melbourne (both $1,300), and Brisbane ($1,250).
Outside the capital cities, the highest median weekly earnings were in regional Western Australia ($1,356 per week), and the lowest was regional South Australia ($1,000).
In August 2022, the occupations with highest median weekly earnings were Managers ($1,900 per week) and Professionals ($1,693). The lowest were Sales workers ($676), Labourers ($810) and Community and personal service workers ($863).
Professionals and Managers also had the highest hourly rates ($52.60 and $52.00), while Labourers and Sales workers had the lowest hourly rate ($27.60 and $27.00). The gap between the median hourly rates for occupations is smaller than for the total weekly earnings measure, partly due to the difference in hours typically worked for each occupation.
1. Data is coded to ANZSCO ver 1.2. For more information on Occupations and Skill level, refer to ANZSCO - Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations
In August 2022, the industries with the highest median weekly earnings were:
The industries with the lowest median weekly earnings were:
1. For more information on Industries, refer to Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)
In August 2022, the highest median weekly earners were employees with a postgraduate degree ($1,750 per week), while the lowest were those without non-school qualifications ($934). The largest increases in median weekly earnings, compared to August 2017, were for employees with a diploma or advanced diploma (up $292) and a graduate diploma or graduate certificate (up $284).
1. For more information on educational attainment, refer to Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED)
The best source of data on multiple job holders can be found in the Australian Labour Account, which provides the best estimate of people working in multiple jobs by balancing the information from multiple data sources.
In August 2022, there were 890,000 people who were multiple job holders - people who worked in more than one job during the same week. This was 6.6% of total employment.
Of those who received employee earnings in both their main and second jobs
In comparison, median weekly earnings for single job holders was $1263 per week.
Of the 4.0 million people who earned less than $1000 per week in their main job, 8.9% (350,000) had a second job. For people who earned $1000 or more per week, 4.5% had a second job.
In August 2022, women were more likely to have a second job (7.8%) compared to men (5.5%). People aged 15-24 years were more likely to have a second job (7.9%) than people aged 25 years and over (6.4%).
This release uses ABS catalogue number 6337.0*.
Prior to 2020, statistics were published in:
*Note: Catalogue number 6337.0 was previously used for Working Hours Arrangements, Australia (Preliminary), Feb to May 1981.
**Note: Catalogue number 6333.0 was previously used for Working Conditions, Australia (Preliminary), Feb to May 1979.