How Much Should I Be Earning at My Age in Australia? [2026]

The median full-time Australian salary by age, drawn from ABS Personal Income data (Cat 6524.0.55.002) and CPI-adjusted to 2026 Q1:

Age cohort	p25 (low)	Median (p50)	p75 (good)	p90 (top)
20-24	$42,000	$60,000	$78,000	$95,000
25-29	$56,000	$72,000	$92,000	$120,000
30-34	$65,000	$80,000	$110,000	$145,000
35-39	$68,000	$85,000	$118,000	$160,000
40-44	$70,000	$88,000	$122,000	$175,000
45-49	$70,000	$88,000	$124,000	$180,000
50-54	$68,000	$88,000	$124,000	$180,000
55-59	$64,000	$85,000	$120,000	$175,000
60-64	$58,000	$80,000	$115,000	$165,000

Don't read this as a target. Read it as a percentile band: where you sit relative to your peers, not what you "should" earn. A $90,000 salary at 32 sits at the 61st percentile for that cohort — comfortably above the median, but well off the p75. A $90,000 salary at 50 sits at the 52nd percentile — same dollars, very different signal.

The fastest way to read your own number is the Money Mirror — drop your age and salary, see your percentile band against ABS, APRA and ATO benchmarks in 30 seconds. Or jump to $100K at 30, $120K at 35, $150K at 40 for specific scenarios.

You'll see "average salary $98,000" in headlines. That's the mean, distorted upward by high earners. The median ($85,000 across all full-time workers in 2026) is what most people actually earn — half above, half below. A handful of investment bankers and CEOs drag the mean up by $13,000 without changing the typical experience.

For a clean read on where you sit, you want three numbers, not one:

• p25 (your bottom-quartile peers earn this or less)
• p50 (the median — half of peers above, half below)
• p75 (your top-quartile peers earn this or more)

The Money Mirror renders all five (p10, p25, p50, p75, p90) on a single distribution band so you can read your position visually — try it here.

It tells you: whether the salary range you're being offered is competitive for your age cohort. If you're at 32 and a recruiter says "$95,000 is the band", you're being offered the 65th percentile. That's above median but not top-quartile. Negotiate from that number.

It doesn't tell you:

• Industry-specific premiums — software engineers, doctors, lawyers have completely different curves.
• Cost-of-living context — $90k in Hobart and $90k in Sydney are different real wages. The Money Mirror's weekly take-home vs city expenses band corrects for this.
• Career stage signal — a $90k offer at 32 with 12 years of experience signals different things than the same offer at 32 with 4 years of experience.

Use the percentile as a baseline. Layer the qualitative signals on top.

Salary by age is almost-but-not-quite gendered. Super by age is dramatically gendered. APRA and ASFA data show median super balances at age 30-34 of $78,000 for men versus $62,000 for women — roughly 20% lower at the same career stage. By age 55-59, the gap is $390,000 vs $310,000 — and this is the median, with the bottom-quartile gap much wider.

The Money Mirror renders this gap explicitly. If you set "identify as: woman", the super percentile band uses the women-specific cohort, not the all-genders blend — so you see whether you're catching up or falling further behind your direct peers.

Practical move: drop your salary into the Salary Sacrifice Calculator and see whether an extra $50/week into super is feasible. At 30, that's roughly $130,000 more at retirement via compounding (assuming a 7% net return for 35 years).

Australian salary review cycles cluster around the financial year boundary (1 July) and the calendar year (Jan/Feb). If you're going into a review, walk in with three numbers:

1. Your current salary's percentile for your age cohort. "I'm currently in the 55th percentile for my age" is a fact, not an opinion.
2. The p75 number for your cohort. "To be in the top quartile of Australians my age, I'd need to be on $X." That's the ceiling for what's reasonable to ask without a promotion.
3. Your real take-home delta. A $10,000 raise at the 30c bracket is $7,000 net. A $10,000 raise above the 37c bracket is $6,300 net. The Take Home Pay Calculator tells you the exact number for your situation.

Don't quote percentiles to your manager — they don't care. Use them to set your own expectations and ask for a defensible number.

Every claim above is wired to a calculator on Savings Mate. Pick the one that matches what you're trying to figure out:

• Where do I sit? Money Mirror — full distribution view, gendered super, savings, cost of living.
• Is $X a good salary at age Y? Pre-built variants: $80K at 25, $100K at 30, $130K at 35, $175K at 45 — or pick yours.
• What's my actual take-home? Take Home Pay Calculator — current 2025-26 brackets, Medicare, HECS.
• Is a pay rise worth it after tax? Pay Rise Calculator.
• Should I salary sacrifice? Salary Sacrifice Calculator.
• Can I afford this house on this salary? Borrowing Power Calculator + Can I Afford a House.
• Is my super on track for my age? Super Calculator + Retirement Calculator.

None of this is financial advice. Salary distributions are a snapshot of one labour market in 2026 — your personal trajectory matters more than any percentile.