# Average Salary in Australia, and What's Normal at 18 to 25 > The average full-time salary in Australia is about $108,000 before tax, but most people earn less. See the middle salary, typical pay for people in their late teens and early 20s, and how to compare your own fairly. Canonical HTML: https://getclova.com/blog/average-salary Clova is an Australian budgeting app. [Join the waitlist](https://getclova.com/) [Home](https://getclova.com/) → [Guides](https://getclova.com/blog) → [Life costs](https://getclova.com/blog/topic/life-costs) → [Average Salary in Australia, and What's Normal at 18 to 25](https://getclova.com/blog/average-salary) - Author: Marnix - Published: 2026-10-22 Every so often a headline says the average Australian now earns more than $100,000 a year. If you're 21 and your payslip looks nothing like that, it's easy to read it as a sign you're behind. That headline number is real, but it measures something narrower than it sounds, and it isn't the pay of a typical person, let alone a typical person your age. Once you know what it counts, you can find the figure that actually fits you. ## The average full-time salary is about $108,000 The number behind the headlines is the ABS's **average weekly ordinary time earnings** for full-time adults. In May 2026 it was $2,083.70 a week, which is about $108,000 over a year. It counts the pay for normal hours, before tax, for adults working full-time. Overtime, part-time workers and casuals on a few shifts a week are all outside it. It's also an **average**, or mean: every full-time adult's weekly pay added up and divided by the number of people. ## Most full-time workers earn less than the average An average gets pulled up by the people at the top. A few very large salaries add a lot to the total without adding many people, so the average ends up above what most people earn. The same distinction matters when comparing [super balances by age](/blog/super-by-age). The **median** avoids that. It's the pay of the person in the middle: line everyone up from lowest to highest pay, and half earn more than them and half earn less. The ABS's May 2025 survey of employers gives both for full-time employees. The average is above the middle. Selected pay thresholds, with the median and mean marked. Full-time employees' weekly pay before tax, May 2025 (ABS Employee Earnings and Hours): | | Weekly pay (AUD) | | --- | ---: | | 1 in 10 earn less than | $1,166 | | The middle (median) | $1,887 | | The average (mean) | $2,131 | | 9 in 10 earn less than | $3,398 | More than 6 in 10 full-time employees earned below the average. That middle pay works out to about $98,000 a year. More than 6 in 10 full-time employees earned below the average, so for a sense of a typical full-time salary, the median is the closer number. (The May 2026 average above comes from a different, more frequent ABS survey, so the two averages don't match exactly.) ## What's normal at 18 to 25 Experience, occupation and hours worked all affect the comparison. Some awards also set **junior rates**, a percentage of the adult rate, for workers under 21, and apprentices have [rates of their own](/blog/apprentice-wages). The ABS's August 2025 employee survey gives the middle weekly pay for full-time workers in each age group. Middle full-time pay by age group. Median weekly pay before tax, full-time employees, August 2025 (ABS Employee earnings): | Age | Weekly pay (AUD) | | --- | ---: | | 15 to 19 | $854 | | 20 to 24 | $1,200 (about $62,400 a year) | | 25 to 34 | $1,648 | | 35 to 44 | $1,950 | | 45 to 54 | $2,000 | So if you're 22 and working full-time on around $1,200 a week before tax, you're right in the middle for your age. At 25 to 34, the middle full-time pay is $1,648 a week, roughly $450 more. Many people aged 20 to 24 aren't full-time, though. Counting part-time and casual jobs too, the middle pay for that age group was $950 a week. A student working a few shifts may earn much less. ## Compare like with like Before you put your pay next to any figure, check you're comparing the same thing: - **Before tax or after.** These figures are all before tax. What lands in your account is smaller, and [take-home pay](/blog/take-home-pay) explains how much smaller. [Your payslip](/blog/payslip-explained) shows both amounts. - **Weekly or yearly.** A yearly figure is the weekly one multiplied by 52. - **Full-time or all workers.** A [part-time or casual job](/blog/casual-vs-part-time) will sit well below a full-time figure for the same hourly rate. - **Salary or package.** Super is paid on top of a salary, so an offer quoted as a total package including super has less cash in it. Our guide to [reading a job offer](/blog/job-offer-salary-package) shows how to separate them. If you're paid by the hour, the more useful check is whether your rate is right for your job. The [award rates guide](/blog/award-rates) shows how to look up the minimum for your role, and the [minimum wage guide](/blog/minimum-wage) covers the national floor. ## Plan around your pay, not the average How your pay compares with an average doesn't change what your rent and bills cost. Planning starts from the amount that actually reaches your account each payday, and the first few pays of a job are a good time to set that up. Our [first job budget](/blog/first-job-budget) walks through giving each pay its jobs. Clova gives each pay a plan for bills, spending and goals, using the amount that lands rather than a salary on paper. It also puts each purchase in a category, so you can see where your pay is going without adding it up yourself. Clova is an Australian budgeting app. Join the waitlist and we’ll be in touch. [Join the waitlist](https://getclova.com/) Your pay at 22 is a starting point, not a verdict. The figures compare age groups; your next steps depend on your work and circumstances. ## A note from us Comparing yourself with an average salary can make a normal start feel like falling behind. We're building Clova around the pay you actually have, so each payday has a plan that fits it, whatever the headlines say. ## Common questions ### What is the median salary in Australia? About $98,000 a year for full-time employees, or $1,887 a week, in the ABS's May 2025 survey of employers. Counting part-time workers too, the median was $1,436 a week. The median is the middle pay: half of employees earn more and half earn less. ### What is the median hourly wage in Australia? The middle hourly rate across all employees was $42.90 in August 2025, before tax. For 20 to 24-year-olds it was $33.50. These are medians from the ABS's employee earnings survey, which covers each person's main job. ### What is the minimum wage in Australia? From 1 July 2026, the national minimum wage is $26.44 an hour, or $1,004.90 a week. Most employees are covered by an award or agreement instead, which sets its own minimum rates, often higher. Younger workers can be paid junior rates until they turn 21. ### Does the average salary include super? No. The ABS's average weekly earnings count what employees are paid before tax. The super your employer pays on top, at least 12% of the earnings that count for super, goes to your super fund and isn't part of the figure. ### Is the average salary before or after tax? Before tax. What lands in your account is smaller, because tax and any HELP repayments are withheld from each pay. On $62,400 a year, for example, the amount that reaches your account is well under $1,200 a week. ## Sources 1. [Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, May 2026](https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-working-conditions/average-weekly-earnings-australia/latest-release) · Australian Bureau of Statistics 2. [Average Weekly Earnings, Australia methodology, May 2026](https://www.abs.gov.au/methodologies/average-weekly-earnings-australia-methodology/may-2026) · Australian Bureau of Statistics 3. [Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia, May 2025 (Data Cube 3, Table 6)](https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-working-conditions/employee-earnings-and-hours-australia/latest-release) · Australian Bureau of Statistics 4. [Employee earnings, August 2025 (Table 2, median earnings by age)](https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-working-conditions/employee-earnings/latest-release) · Australian Bureau of Statistics 5. [Minimum wages](https://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay-and-wages/minimum-wages) · Fair Work Ombudsman 6. [Junior pay rates](https://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay-and-wages/minimum-wages/junior-pay-rates) · Fair Work Ombudsman ## Related reading - [Take-Home Pay: What Lands in Your Account and Why](https://getclova.com/blog/take-home-pay) - [Your first job budget: what to do with your first pays](https://getclova.com/blog/first-job-budget) - [Your first payslip, explained line by line](https://getclova.com/blog/payslip-explained) [Report a correction](https://getclova.com/contact) This guide explains a budgeting method in general terms; it doesn't consider your circumstances.