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Earnings reference period May 2025 · ABS wage and price data by their latest reported quarter
Annualised equivalents of May 2025 weekly occupation-group earnings, with a separate modelled take-home scenario, alongside ABS industry wage growth and consumer inflation.
The occupation amounts start with the official Jobs and Skills Australia February 2026 workbook, based on the ABS Employee Earnings and Hours customised report for May 2025. That source reports gross weekly cash earnings before tax for full-time, non-managerial employees paid at adult rates, including salary-sacrificed amounts. Each published weekly median is multiplied by 52 to produce an annualised equivalent. The source group is named in the table because some groups cover adjacent occupations; this does not turn the group result into a direct observation of every job title on the page.
The annualised equivalent is not an observed annual salary, current-year pay, an entry or senior range or a forecast. We do not inflate the May 2025 earnings figure. Take-home is modelled separately by treating that equivalent as ordinary taxable salary under the selected 2026–27 resident scenario. The earnings workbook does not record the personal deductions, HELP position, private cover, ordinary-time-earnings base or individual pay history needed to observe take-home. These tax outputs are illustrations, not measured worker outcomes.
The wage-growth series answers a different question. ABS Wage Price Index growth is published by industry, not by individual occupation, so each tracked occupation is associated with a disclosed ANZSIC industry mapping. The CPI comparison is national consumer-price growth. A difference between those growth rates indicates how that industry's wage index changed relative to prices over the reported period; it does not show whether a particular worker's annual pay rose by the same amount.
Read the earnings source group, its May 2025 reference period and the WPI/CPI quarter labels together. The occupation rows and industry overlay do not share one measurement period or unit, and they are not combined into an observed real salary series. The source medians are useful as a benchmark input, while the live index data describes aggregate industry movement. Neither determines a fair individual wage or employment entitlement.
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tracked jobs whose industry pay isn't beating inflation
3.9%
CPI inflation (June quarter 2026)
3.2%
wage growth, all industries (WPI, June quarter 2026)
−0.7 pts
national real wage change (wages minus inflation)
ABS Wage Price Index annual growth minus CPI, for the industries our tracked occupations fall under. Green means pay is beating inflation; red means it’s going backwards in real terms.
Sorted by take-home pay, highest first. Take-home assumes an Australian resident claiming the tax-free threshold with private hospital cover, no HELP debt and the $1,000 standard work-expense deduction. Wage growth is the ABS WPI for each job’s industry. Click any occupation for the full breakdown.
| Occupation | Real change | JSA source group | May 2025 annualised equivalent | Take-home / yr | Effective tax | Industry wage growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mining Operator | −0.4 pts | Drillers, Miners and Shot Firers | $151,216 | $111,562 | 26.2% | 3.5% |
| Paramedic | −0.1 pts | Ambulance Officers and Paramedics | $148,304 | $109,785 | 26.0% | 3.8% |
| HR Manager | −1.4 pts | Human Resource Managers | $143,936 | $107,121 | 25.6% | 2.5% |
| Marketing Manager | −1.4 pts | Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Manager | $139,204 | $104,234 | 25.1% | 2.5% |
| Mechanical Engineer | −1.4 pts | Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers | $135,928 | $102,231 | 24.8% | 2.5% |
| Police Officer | −0.3 pts | Police | $133,120 | $100,322 | 24.6% | 3.6% |
| Software Engineer | −1.4 pts | Software and Applications Programmers | $131,924 | $99,508 | 24.6% | 2.5% |
| Firefighter | −0.3 pts | Fire and Emergency Workers | $128,596 | $97,245 | 24.4% | 3.6% |
| Secondary School Teacher | −1.1 pts | Secondary School Teachers | $120,744 | $91,906 | 23.9% | 2.8% |
| Primary School Teacher | −1.1 pts | Primary School Teachers | $115,752 | $88,511 | 23.5% | 2.8% |
| Civil Engineer | −1.4 pts | Civil Engineering Professionals | $115,284 | $88,193 | 23.5% | 2.5% |
| Registered Nurse | −0.1 pts | Registered Nurses | $113,984 | $87,309 | 23.4% | 3.8% |
| Electrician | −0.6 pts | Electricians | $113,932 | $87,274 | 23.4% | 3.3% |
| Lawyer (Solicitor) | −1.4 pts | Solicitors | $107,640 | $82,995 | 22.9% | 2.5% |
| Accountant | −1.4 pts | Accountants | $104,156 | $80,626 | 22.6% | 2.5% |
| Plumber | −0.6 pts | Plumbers | $103,480 | $80,166 | 22.5% | 3.3% |
| Truck Driver | −0.4 pts | Truck Drivers | $101,920 | $79,106 | 22.4% | 3.5% |
| Physiotherapist | −0.1 pts | Physiotherapists | $98,176 | $76,560 | 22.0% | 3.8% |
| Executive Assistant | −1.2 pts | Personal Assistants | $95,264 | $74,580 | 21.7% | 2.7% |
| Enrolled Nurse | −0.1 pts | Enrolled and Mothercraft Nurses | $92,404 | $72,635 | 21.4% | 3.8% |
| Aged Care Worker | −0.1 pts | Aged and Disabled Carers | $91,572 | $72,069 | 21.3% | 3.8% |
| Carpenter | −0.6 pts | Carpenters and Joiners | $91,520 | $72,034 | 21.3% | 3.3% |
| Sales Representative | −1.0 pts | Sales Representatives | $87,984 | $69,629 | 20.9% | 2.9% |
| IT Support Officer | −1.4 pts | ICT Support Technicians | $87,724 | $69,452 | 20.8% | 2.5% |
| Diesel Mechanic | −0.6 pts | Motor Mechanics | $84,344 | $67,154 | 20.4% | 3.3% |
| Retail Manager | −1.1 pts | Retail Managers | $84,240 | $67,083 | 20.4% | 2.8% |
| Bank Teller | −1.2 pts | Bank Workers | $83,720 | $66,730 | 20.3% | 2.7% |
| Real Estate Agent | −1.0 pts | Real Estate Sales Agents | $78,208 | $62,981 | 19.5% | 2.9% |
| Barista | −1.1 pts | Bar Attendants and Baristas | $78,000 | $62,840 | 19.4% | 2.8% |
| Chef | −1.1 pts | Chefs | $73,996 | $60,117 | 18.8% | 2.8% |
| Delivery Driver | −0.4 pts | Delivery Drivers | $68,016 | $56,051 | 17.6% | 3.5% |
Earnings figures are gross weekly source-group medians from the Jobs and Skills Australia February 2026 occupation workbook, based on ABS Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, multiplied by 52 as annualised equivalents. The source population is Full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate; gross weekly cash earnings before tax, inclusive of amounts salary sacrificed. Take-home pay applies the 2026–27 resident tax brackets, Medicare levy and offsets exactly as our salary tax calculator does. Take-home is after the $1,000 standard work-expense deduction every wage earner gets from 2026–27 automatically, which is what the calculator applies too. Wage growth is the ABS Wage Price Index (annual, all sectors) and inflation is the national All-groups CPI. Both are read live from our data pipeline.
The ABS publishes wage growth by industry, not by occupation, so each occupation is mapped to its closest ANZSIC 2006 division for the wage-growth and real-change columns (e.g. nurses → Health care and social assistance, teachers → Education and training, electricians → Construction). Where an occupation’s own industry differs from the group we file it under on this site, the industry wins: paramedics read Health care and social assistance, because ANZSIC 2006 classifies ambulance services there (class 8591) rather than with police and fire under Public administration and safety. That mapping is a disclosed approximation. The source-period earnings figure is not inflated and the tax result is a model on 2026–27 rates, not observed take-home. Figures are not award rates or financial advice.
You’re welcome to reference these figures with a link (CC BY 4.0). Suggested citation: “Australian wages vs inflation 2026–27, Oz Finance Hub, ozfinancehub.com.au/australian-wages-vs-inflation”.
There’s more in Australian salary statistics (median pay and take-home), the underlying wage growth by industry and state, or the full per-occupation breakdowns in the salary by occupation hub.