So if you're on $100k or more, congratulations, you're in the top 20% of Aussie income earners. If not, don't worry, you're in the good company of 80% of Aussies.
Overall, 12.5% of the population earned a high income, and 32.0% earned a low income, compared with 14.0% and 31.5% respectively for Greater Capital Cities.
Four in five Australians earn less than $100,000 with new tax figures revealing the federal budget is increasingly reliant on the nation's best-paid 1 per cent to cover the cost of growing services and infrastructure.
The top 10 per cent of earners in Australia make $122,664 or more, with some of the best paid incomes in the country including miners who rake in $124,550 on average, school principals who take home $130,142 and dentists that are earning $131,773.
Average Australian Salaries in 2023
A taxable income that was $131,501 or higher was within the top 10% of earners in Australia last year. About 5% of taxpayers had incomes above $180,000.
$100,000/year is above an average salary and if you're frugal enough, on $100,000/year, you should be able to live a good life and save some money too. Usually if you consider living in desirable locations of cities like Melbourne and Sydney, most of your income will be consumed in the house rents.
From the top 5% to the top 1%
Salaries start to jump significantly the closer you get to the top 1%. You'll start to see dramatic shifts in the top 5%, where the EPI found the average earners significantly increased to $343,000 in 2020, up from $324,000 the year before.
The average earnings of the top 20% are 12x the average earnings of the bottom 20% and the wealth of the average household in the top 20% is 93x the average wealth of those in the bottom 20%. The average household gross income is $121,108, however the top 20% of households earn 48% of all income.
In 2019-20, a household at the 90th percentile of the distribution – that is, a household that is richer than 90 per cent of households – had a net worth of $2.26 million. A household at the 10th percentile was worth just $36,900, or 61 times less.
Australians wanting to be in the country's top 1% for wealth need to have an individual net worth of US$5.5 million ($8.3 million), Knight Frank's 2023 Wealth Report has found.
It is higher than the median, meaning it is in the top 50% of salaries.
The median salary in Australia in 2023 is 6,650 AUD (USD 4,420) per month. The median salary refers to the middle value of all the salaries considered. In other words, around half of the population in Australia earns less than 6,650 AUD per month, while the other half earns more.
Overall, less than 3 per cent of Australians feel wealthy despite the fact that more than 15 per cent of those surveyed earn more than $200,000 a year. However, most people surveyed felt “comfortable” on their current wage, with 55 per cent indicating this on a sliding scale when asked if they felt wealthy.
A baby born in Australia today has at least a one-in-three chance of living to 100.
Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show 4,440 Australians turned 100-years old between June 2014-15 -- that's an increase of 550 centenarians on the previous year and works out to be 444,000 worth of years lived.
Approximately 58% of the Australian population is considered to be part of the middle class. What is the average annual income range for the Australian middle class? The average annual income range for the Australian middle class is between AUD 46,000 and AUD 140,000.
Middle-income class refers to households with income between 75% and 200% of the median national income. Upper-income class refers to households with income above 200% of the median national income.
The ATO classifies those who control a net wealth of $5 million or more as 'wealthy individuals'2. Those with a net wealth of $30 million or more are classified as 'high-wealth individuals'. The wealthiest person in Australia is currently Gina Rinehart, with a net worth of around US$14.8 billion.
Someone earning $200,000 a year would be among the top 3.5 per cent of Australians who fall into the top tax bracket which cuts in at $180,000 a year. Mr Derbas suggested in the video that singles living in the Harbour City would do incredibly well on the same salary.
A salary above $130,000 is considered a reasonable amount in Australia. Up to 75 percent of all the workers in the country earn at least $52,500 per year before taxes, which is about a net of $46,500. About 25 percent of workers make $1,770 per month, which is below average.
Top 10% income
The average earnings of those in the top 10% were roughly $173,000 in 2020, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
The Modern Wealth Survey collected responses from 1,000 adults between the ages of 21 and 75. According to those surveyed, it would take an average net worth of approximately $2.2 million to be considered “wealthy” in 2022. In 2021, survey respondents indicated it would take a net worth of $1.9 million.
A high-income economy is defined by the World Bank as a nation with a gross national income per capita of US$13,205 or more in 2022, calculated using the Atlas method.