Average Salary By Age In Australia

In the recent census, seven million people were working full-time, while four million were working part-time in the week before the census took place. The median hours worked in Australia was 38 hours per week, with the distribution of income varying “substantially across different age groups”, the ABS reported.

Note that this census (for the first time) included administration data from the Australian Tax Office and the Department of Social Services (DSS) to include variables such as government benefits, superannuation, payment summaries and more.

The ABS says that data for older age groups should be interpreted with caution as superannuation data is under-recorded in the administration data, therefore, total incomes for such age groups are likely to be under-recorded.

For further information on the following data, see Understanding Income In Administration Data, The Census and ABS Surveys.

With that in mind, here’s how much money Australians were taking home on a weekly basis according to their age group.

In Australia, the minimum working age is generally around 15 years old, although the minimum age laws vary state-by-state. In terms of the average pay, however, this means the 15-19 year old age group makes the least amount of money each week compared to the other age groups, with 44% taking home negative or nil income.

For those taking home some positive income each week, the most common weekly income was between $1-$249. Out of all the census entries, 32.4% fell into this income bracket.

Unsurprisingly, as the income brackets increased across the data set, the lower the percentage of 15-19 year olds that reported any earnings. There were only 13.8% taking home $250-$499 per week; 8.2% taking home $500-$999 each week, all the way down to 0.9% taking home $1000-1,499 per week.

This percentage dropped even further again, down to 0.3% of 15-19 year olds for a weekly average income of $1,500-$1,999, and 0.2% for both the income brackets of $2,000-2,999 and $3,000 or more.

It’s common for Australians to begin working in their 20s, whether on a part-time or full-time basis. This is reflected in the census data, with only 4.7% of 20-24 years recording nil (or negative) income a week.

A total of 8% of recorded weekly income between $1-$249, jumping to 21.2% for $250-$499.

The most common weekly income for Australians in their early 20s is between $500 and $999, with 42.4% falling into this category.

Meanwhile, 17.2% recorded a weekly average income of $1,000-$1,499, with only 4.4% recording between $1500-$1,999. This percentage dropped again for those taking home between $2000-$2,999 (1.6%) and only 0.6% recorded more than $3000.

The average weekly income for 25-34 year olds falls predominantly between $500 and $1,499. Some 26% recorded between $500-$999, while 26.2% recorded between the $1,000-$1,499 bracket.

One one end of the spectrum, 3.6% recorded nil/negative income, 4% recorded $1-$249, and 9.7% brought home $250-$499. On the other end–above the average–there are 16.3% recording a weekly income of $1,500-$1,999, 10.9% recording $2,000-$2,999, and 3.4% recording $3,000 or more a week.

The average weekly income for those in their late 30s and early 40s is quite similar to that of the previous age group. Once again, the large majority recorded an income between $500 and $1,499: 20.5% fell into the $500-$999 bracket, while 21.1% took home between $1000-$1,499.

A higher percentage recorded nil/negative income compared to the 25-34 year old bracket, with 4.1% of those between 35-44 coming in at zero. This dropped slightly to 3.7% for $1-$249, and then up to 7.7% for $250-$499.

Above the average were 15.9% making $1,500-$1,999 per week, 17.3% making $2,000-$2,999, and 9.6% making more than $3,000 in weekly income.

For those aged between 45-54, the similar spread continues. 4.9% recorded no or negative income a week, 3.7% recorded $1-$249 a week, and 8.8% took home $250-499.

The most common weekly income for 45-54 year olds is $500-$999, with 20.8% of Australians recording between this figure. Some 19.5% recorded between $1,000-$1,499, and 14.5% recorded between $1500-$1,999.

For the income bracket of $2,000-$2,999, 16.6% fell within this range per week. The highest percentage of individuals recording more than $3,000 per week fell into this age group, that being 11.3%.

The most common salary for 55-64 year olds fell into the $500-$999 weekly income bracket: a total of 22% from the census. From this, the income ranged significantly across the age group.

At the lower end, 8.6% reported nil or negative income; 6.4% reported $1-$250; while 15.1% reported $250-$499. Then, above the most commonly reported income for that age bracket, 17.1% reported $1,000-$1,499; 11.3% reported $1,500-$1,999; and 11.8% reported between $2,000-2,999 each week.

Only 7.6% of the 55-64 year old age bracket reported a weekly income of more than $3,000.

As Australians get older, their weekly income tends to lower–especially considering that the age bracket of 65-74 years old is around the same time that most Australians would expect to retire. With that said, the most commonly reported income was $250-$499 a week, with 39.5% of those in the census reporting this amount.

There were increases on the previous age bracket, too, when it came to the lower end of the incomes: 12.3% reported nil or negative incomes and 14.5% reported $1-$249.

Meanwhile, 17.6% earned $500-999 per week.

After that, the percentage dropped significantly once again: 6.8% of 65-74 year olds reported $1,000-$1,499; 3.6% reported $1,500-$1,999; 3.2% reported between $2,000-$2,999; and 2.5% reported an income of more than $3,000 per week.

For those aged 75-84 years old, more than half of this age bracket reported an average weekly income of $250-$499 (60.7%). As stated earlier, these figures may not be as accurate as they should be due to the limited reporting of superannuation, which the government hopes to change in the near future.

There were only 9.3% of 75-84 year olds that reported nil or negative income, and 11.4% reported between $1-$249.

On the other side of the average, 13.3% reported $500-$999; 2.4% reported $1000-$1,499; and 1% reported $1,499-$2,000.

For the salary ranges of $2,000-$2,999 and more than $3,000 a week, 0.9% of 75-84 year olds fell into both ranges.

When these figures are combined with the following age bracket of over 85 year olds, the ABS concludes that more than four in five persons aged 75 years and older earned less than $500 per week (81.5%).

For Australians over 85 years old, the most commonly reported weekly income was once again between $250-$499, with 64.6% reporting this amount. As with the previous age bracket, it’s important to consider that there may be limitations to the data surrounding superannuation which means this figure could be wrongly estimated.

Nevertheless, 10.9% of over 85 year olds reported no or negative income per week, while 6.1% reported $1-$249. There were then 13.4% who reported $500-$999, and 2.3% who reported $1000-$1,499.

There were only 0.9% of over 80 year olds who reported a weekly income of $1,500-$1,999; 0.8% who reported between $2,000-$2,999; and 0.9% again who reported more than $3,000 a week.

There are many different factors that affect your salary, with age just one of them. Other influences  include your years of experience, your education and qualifications, the industry you work in, your occupation and seniority level, and even the current economic climate.

Another factor to consider is your location: different states tend to pay different salaries for the same jobs, such as high school teachers.

To find out the average salary by state, with some occupational examples, read our guide here.