WhereNext Open Data

Median Salaries by Country 2026

National median annual earnings — gross and after-tax — for 43 countries. PPP-adjusted figures show real purchasing power. Each row shows the actual data year of the underlying wage survey (2022–2024).

CC BY 4.043 countriesData years 2022–2024JSON APICSV

Quick answer

Across 43 countries, the highest nominal gross median salary is Switzerland (~$85,714/yr); the lowest in the dataset is Vietnam (~$2,857/yr). On PPP-adjusted net income, Scandinavian and Swiss medians rival the US despite lower nominal figures. 5 of 43 countries have a median net salary that covers 12+ months of local single-person living costs — a useful affordability proxy for relocation. Source years span 2022–2024 from official wage surveys (OECD, Eurostat, ONS, BLS, etc.).

Key facts

Highest nominal: Switzerland ~$85,714/yr gross median.
Highest PPP-adjusted (top 3) Switzerland, Singapore, United States.
5/43 countries cover 12+ months median net salary divided by single-person monthly cost ≥ 12 — a relocation-affordability proxy.
Data vintage: 2022–2024 each row shows the latest verified survey year explicitly. 2026 medians don't yet exist for most countries.
Source: official wage surveys OECD, Eurostat, ONS, BLS, INSEE, Destatis, etc. · CC BY 4.0 — free to cite.

Before you use this data — four important caveats

Data vintage:2026 published medians don't exist yet for most countries; each row shows the latest verified year (2022–2024). The "Data year" column is explicit for every row.
Median ≠ average: The median is the midpoint worker. Averages are pulled upward by top earners and overstate what a typical person takes home. Median is the right metric for personal relocation decisions.
National ≠ your job: These figures span all full-time workers across all sectors. A software engineer, nurse, or teacher will earn very differently from the national median. Use the Salary Calculator for profession-specific estimates.
Local-resident tax ≠ expat tax: Net figures use domestic resident tax rates. As an expat, your actual tax depends on treaties, FEIE/FTC elections, and special regimes. See Expat Tax Rates for destination-country rates specific to inbound foreigners.

Country	Data year	Gross (USD)	Net (USD)	Net PPP ($)	Months covered
SwitzerlandCHFⓘ	2022	$85,714	$73,267	$55,000	18.3×
IcelandISKⓘ	2023	$67,376	$42,082	$34,701	11.7×
DenmarkDKKⓘ	2023	$66,390	$38,207	$35,453	11.9×
LuxembourgEURⓘ	2022	$64,948	$40,680	$35,113	11.6×
United StatesUSDⓘ	2023	$59,540	$46,972	$46,972	15.7×
SingaporeSGDⓘ	2023	$52,941	$40,897	$54,994	18.2×
NorwayNOKⓘ	2023	$52,444	$35,692	$30,749	10.2×
NetherlandsEURⓘ	2023	$46,392	$18,734	$20,497	6.8×
IrelandEURⓘ	2023	$46,392	$34,379	$31,140	10.3×
BelgiumEURⓘ	2022	$45,361	$22,641	$25,877	8.5×
AustraliaAUDⓘ	2023	$44,172	$39,133	$35,101	11.7×
CanadaCADⓘ	2023	$43,333	$34,255	$35,803	12×
United KingdomGBPⓘ	2023	$42,638	$33,213	$34,537	11.5×
SwedenSEKⓘ	2023	$41,021	$32,639	$31,771	10.7×
AustriaEURⓘ	2023	$40,206	$24,935	$28,444	9.4×
FinlandEURⓘ	2023	$40,206	$34,239	$35,169	11.6×
GermanyEURⓘ	2022	$37,835	$24,418	$29,650	9.8×
FranceEURⓘ	2023	$31,443	$21,807	$26,614	8.9×
IsraelILSⓘ	2023	$30,831	$19,872	$16,819	5.6×
New ZealandNZDⓘ	2023	$30,508	$25,234	$25,719	8.6×
United Arab EmiratesAEDⓘ	2022	$29,428	$29,428	$40,788	13.7×
JapanJPYⓘ	2023	$29,221	$23,316	$25,980	8.6×
ItalyEURⓘ	2022	$25,773	$17,476	$22,685	7.6×
South KoreaKRWⓘ	2023	$24,138	$19,118	$25,128	8.5×
SpainEURⓘ	2023	$23,711	$16,926	$22,970	7.7×
SloveniaEURⓘ	2022	$21,649	$12,120	$18,309	6.1×
EstoniaEURⓘ	2023	$19,072	$14,953	$23,066	7.7×
LithuaniaEURⓘ	2023	$19,072	$12,870	$25,243	8.3×
PortugalEURⓘ	2023	$17,938	$12,742	$19,340	6.4×
SlovakiaEURⓘ	2023	$17,526	$11,848	$20,325	6.8×
HungaryHUFⓘ	2023	$16,410	$10,912	$23,026	7.5×
CzechiaCZKⓘ	2023	$16,387	$12,126	$22,629	7.6×
LatviaEURⓘ	2023	$15,567	$10,819	$18,750	6.4×
GreeceEURⓘ	2022	$14,948	$10,848	$16,991	5.7×
PolandPLNⓘ	2023	$13,971	$12,056	$28,355	9.3×
ChileCLPⓘ	2023	$8,873	$8,252	$14,977	5×
ThailandTHBⓘ	2022	$8,261	$7,763	$22,991	7.8×
TurkeyTRYⓘ	2023	$7,917	$5,426	$19,486	6.4×
South AfricaZARⓘ	2022	$7,701	$6,238	$12,827	4.3×
BrazilBRLⓘ	2023	$6,154	$5,375	$12,688	4.1×
MexicoMXNⓘ	2023	$4,706	$4,323	$9,213	3.1×
ColombiaCOPⓘ	2023	$3,211	$2,954	$8,531	3×
VietnamVNDⓘ	2022	$2,857	$2,391	$8,207	2.7×

Sorted by gross USD descending. “Months covered” = annual net ÷ estimated monthly cost-of-living basket. ≥12× means the median worker can save at full-basket cost.

Methodology

Vintage:2026 published medians don't exist yet for most countries; this dataset uses the latest verified year per country, ranging 2022–2024.
Why median? Medians represent the typical worker. Mean wages are skewed upward by high earners and are unreliable for personal relocation planning. All sources use the 50th percentile of full-time employee earnings.
Currency conversion: Local-currency gross figures converted to USD using Q1 2026 spot mid-rates (January–March 2026 averages). EUR-area countries: EUR/USD = 0.97.
Net income:Derived from WhereNext's deterministic tax model applying domestic progressive brackets + employee social contributions. This is local-resident tax — not expat treatment.
PPP adjustment: World Bank ICP 2021 AIC Price Level Index. Formula: netUSDPPP = netUSD × (US_AIC_PLI / country_AIC_PLI). Produces international dollars.
Months covered: Annual net ÷ monthly cost-of-living basket (estimated from the same AIC PLI index). More than 12× means full-basket surplus.
Sources (priority order): (1) OECD AV_AN_WAGE — median measure; (2) Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey 2022; (3) ILO Global Wage Report 2024–25; (4) National statistical offices (see per-row sourceCitation in the API response).

This is directional data for relocation planning, not employment-contract or legal advice. Full methodology

These are population medians. Your earning potential will be different.

Profession, experience, sector, and city all determine real take-home pay. The Salary Calculator adjusts for your profession across 95+ countries.

Open Salary Calculator (free)Expat Tax Rates →

How to cite this data:

WhereNext. "Median Salaries by Country 2026." getwherenext.com/data/median-salaries-2026. Accessed 2026-04-30.

Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Free to use with attribution.

Suggested citation

CC BY 4.0

This dataset is free to redistribute, quote, and embed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. The composite form below preserves source lineage so AI assistants can cite both WhereNext and the underlying institutional publishers.

WhereNext composite (lineage)

WhereNext composite — Median Salaries 2026 (2026-04-21). Derived from: OECD Average Wages dataset (2024-2025 release); Eurostat Earnings Statistics; ILOSTAT — International Labour Organization; National statistics offices (BLS, ONS, INE, ISTAT, etc.); WhereNext PPP-adjusted median synthesis. Available at https://getwherenext.com/data/median-salaries-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation. CC BY 4.0.

APA

WhereNext. (2026). Median Salaries 2026. Retrieved from https://getwherenext.com/data/median-salaries-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation. CC BY 4.0.

MLA

WhereNext. "Median Salaries 2026." WhereNext, 21 Apr 2026, https://getwherenext.com/data/median-salaries-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation. Accessed via https://getwherenext.com/data/median-salaries-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation. CC BY 4.0.

BibTeX

@misc{wherenext_getwherenext_com_data_median_salaries_2026,
  author = {{WhereNext}},
  title = {Median Salaries 2026},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://getwherenext.com/data/median-salaries-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation},
  note = {CC BY 4.0}
}

HTML link

<a href="https://getwherenext.com/data/median-salaries-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation">WhereNext &mdash; Median Salaries 2026</a>

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