Average Salary NZ 2026

What the average and median New Zealand salary actually is, how your own pay compares, and what is left each week after PAYE, ACC, KiwiSaver and student loan deductions.

The numbers at a glance

Median earnings from wages and salaries, Stats NZ Labour Market Statistics, June 2025 quarter.

Median weekly earnings

$1,380

Before tax

Median a year

$71,760

52 weeks of the median

Gender pay gap

5.2%

Median hourly, narrowest on record

The mean average salary sits noticeably above the median, because a relatively small group of very high earners pulls the mean up. If you are checking whether your own pay is normal, compare against the median.

How does your salary compare?

Enter your salary to see where you sit against the national median and what you take home.

Annual salaryKiwiSaver rate

New Zealand student loan?

Vs the median

+$0

Above $71,760 by 0.0%

Take-home a week

$1,043.16

$1,380.00 gross

Take-home a year

$54,244

PAYE (income tax): $13,749 a year
ACC earner levy: $1,256 a year
KiwiSaver: $2,512 a year
Student loan: $0 a year

Take-home pay around the median

With 3.5% KiwiSaver and no student loan. The median row is highlighted.

Gross and take-home pay at salaries around the New Zealand median
Salary	Gross a week	Take-home a week	Take-home a year
$50,000	$961.54	$763.79	$39,717
$60,000	$1,153.85	$896.72	$46,630
$71,760 (median)	$1,380.00	$1,043.16	$54,244
$85,000	$1,634.62	$1,204.04	$62,610
$100,000	$1,923.08	$1,382.16	$71,873
$120,000	$2,307.69	$1,619.66	$84,223

Using the average to ask for more

The national median is a useful sanity check, but it is not a negotiating position on its own — pay varies widely by role, industry and region. The strongest case combines three things: what the market advertises for your role, what you have delivered since your last review, and what inflation has done to your real pay in the meantime.

Before you name a number, work out what it is worth after deductions. The pay rise calculator shows how much of an increase you actually keep, the NZ tax rates page explains which bracket your new dollars land in, and the hourly to salary calculator converts an hourly offer into an annual figure you can compare.

Average salary questions, answered

What is the average salary in New Zealand?

Stats NZ reported median weekly earnings from wages and salaries of $1,380 in the June 2025 quarter, which works out to about $71,760 a year for a full-time equivalent worker. The mean average sits higher than the median because a small number of very high earners pull it up.

What is the difference between the average and median salary?

The average (mean) adds up all salaries and divides by the number of people, so top earners drag it upwards. The median is the midpoint — half of workers earn more and half earn less. The median is the fairer benchmark for asking whether your own pay is normal.

Is $80,000 a good salary in New Zealand?

It is above the national median of roughly $71,760 a year, so it puts you in the upper half of earners. Whether it feels comfortable depends heavily on housing costs, since Auckland, Wellington and Queenstown rents and mortgages absorb far more of a pay packet than most other regions.

How much is the median salary after tax?

On about $71,760 a year with the default 3.5% KiwiSaver rate and no student loan, PAYE, the ACC earner levy and KiwiSaver together take roughly a quarter of gross pay. The calculator on this page shows the exact weekly and annual take-home figure for any salary.

Is the gender pay gap still a factor in New Zealand?

Yes, though it is narrowing. Stats NZ put the median hourly gender pay gap at 5.2% in the June 2025 quarter, its smallest since the series began in 1998.

How do I know if I am underpaid?

Compare against three reference points: the national median, typical advertised rates for your role and region, and what your own pay has done against inflation over the last few years. If your pay has been flat in dollar terms for two or more years, you have gone backwards in real terms even without a formal pay cut.

What is a good pay rise in New Zealand?

Anything below the annual inflation rate is a real-terms pay cut. Recent annual wage growth has run in the low single digits, so a rise in the 3-5% range roughly keeps pace, and a step change usually comes with a promotion or a job move rather than an annual review.

Work out your take-home pay

Five reasons the "average salary" may not describe your job

People usually arrive at a national figure, compare it to their own pay, and come away either quietly alarmed or falsely reassured. Both reactions are often wrong, because the headline number is not measuring the thing readers assume it is.

Average and median are different claims. The mean is dragged upward by a small number of very high earners; the median is the midpoint, where half of workers earn less. When a news story quotes a bigger number than you expected, it is usually the mean. Compare yourself with the median if you want to know your position in the pack.
Published weekly earnings include part-time work. Unless the figure specifically says full-time equivalent, part-time and reduced-hour workers are in the pool, pulling the number below what a full-time job in the same role typically pays. That is why a full-timer on the "average" may actually be paid below market for their role.
Region changes the answer materially. Auckland and Wellington pay above the national figure, in part because of the industry mix — public sector, finance and tech concentrate there. Comparing a Southland or Northland wage with a national average understates how competitive that pay is locally, and ignores the housing cost that comes with the higher number.
Overtime and allowances are in the data. Earnings measures generally capture what was actually paid, including overtime, shift allowances and commission. If your comparison uses your base salary alone, you are comparing two different quantities.
Occupation beats nationality of the number. The useful benchmark is your role, industry and years of experience in New Zealand, not the whole workforce. A national figure is a sanity check; a role-specific range is what you take into a pay conversation.

How to use a benchmark in a pay review

Turn the comparison into a specific ask. Establish a realistic range for your role, place yourself in it with evidence, then convert the gap into a percentage and a weekly dollar figure using the pay rise calculator. "A 6% adjustment brings me to the middle of the range for this role" lands very differently from "I'm below average". For a complete preparation checklist and meeting script, read our guide to asking for a pay rise in New Zealand.

How we calculate this

This page compares your salary with published New Zealand median and average earnings, then shows both figures after tax. Every figure on this page is worked out in your browser from the rates listed below — nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored.

1Start from Stats NZ published median and mean earnings.
2Place your salary against those benchmarks as a percentile-style comparison.
3Apply PAYE, ACC, student loan and KiwiSaver to each benchmark figure.
4Break the results down by pay period for a like-for-like comparison.
5Note where regional and industry differences make the national figure misleading.

Rates and thresholds in use

Income tax bands: $0–$15,600 at 10.50%; $15,600–$53,500 at 17.50%; $53,500–$78,100 at 30.00%; $78,100–$180,000 at 33.00%; over $180,000 at 39.00%.
ACC earners' levy: 1.75% of liable earnings.
Student loan: 12% of every dollar earned above $24,128 a year.
KiwiSaver employee rates: 3.5% by default, or 4%, 6%, 8% or 10% of gross pay; a temporary reduction to 3% is available.

Last reviewed August 2026 by the Payrise NZ team. We re-check these settings whenever Inland Revenue, MBIE or ACC announce a change, and update this page the same week.

Sources: Stats NZ — labour market statistics, Inland Revenue — income tax rates.

Keep going with the rest of the toolkit — each one uses the same up-to-date New Zealand tax settings.