Are you planning to change jobs in 2025? Even if you're not, knowing the average salary range in your industry can be helpful when deciding on a job offer or negotiating your next increment.

For some, the pursuit of work and a meaningful career can go hand in hand. For others, work is simply an exchange of time and labour for a stable salary.

Knowing the median salary in Singapore gives you a glimpse into your own standing relative to others in the workforce and can come in useful when you’re negotiating your salary or thinking of taking your career elsewhere. 

According to data from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the median monthly salary from full-time work in Singapore is S$5,500 in 2024, including CPF contributions from employers. Compared to 2023’s median monthly salary from full-time work at S$5,197, this represents an increase of almost 6%. 

It’s also interesting to note that the nominal and real annualised change in median gross monthly income from the year 2014 to 2024 is 3.8% p.a. and 2.2% p.a., respectively. Meanwhile, the nominal and real cumulative change from 2014 to 2024 are 45.9% and 24.7%, respectively. 

To understand the difference between real income and nominal income, think of real income as the amount of money an individual or entity makes after adjusting for inflation. Nominal income, on the other hand, makes no adjustments for inflation.

As of Q4 2024, the average salary in Singapore stands at S$6,113 per month, including CPF contributions from employers. This is important to know as wages are benchmarked using average monthly income, and income from employment is a key indicator of economic well-being. 

To understand how the average and median salary are calculated, let’s take a look at this example:

To get the average, you would add up all five of the figures and divide it by the number of employees to get S$4,660. 

To determine the median, you will need to start by arranging the figures in ascending order, and taking the one that falls right in the middle. This is also known as the 50th percentile. In the case of the example above, the median income would be S$4,200.

It is fair that as we grow in age and experience, our wages rise. However, the wage increments don't go on infinitely. 

In fact, it holds true only up to a certain point — around the 45-year-old mark — before our wages start tapering off in our golden years. This is corroborated by the data we’ve gathered below.

Of course, many factors go into the mix when it comes to one’s salary. Amidst the rapidly changing times that we work and live in, it is always a good idea to prioritise upskilling to stay relevant. After all, learning never really stops.

According to the Ministry of Manpower Singapore, the gross salary is the monthly wages or salaries before deduction of employee CPF contributions and personal income tax.

It comprises basic wages, overtime pay, commissions, tips, other allowances and one-twelfth of annual bonuses. The breakdown of your gross salary or nett salary is reflected in your payslip.

What is gross monthly income then? It simply refers to your total income from employment. You’ve also probably come across the term minimum wage. In Singapore, certain sectors have been included in the Progressive Wage Model (PWM), which was introduced in 2012 by NTUC to improve income inequality.

In the retail sector, about 19,000 lower-wage full-time workers will receive pay increments of 8.4% to 8.5% annually for three years from 1 Sept 2022 to 31 Aug 2025.

The government also implemented the Local Qualifying Salary, which stipulates that firms which hire full-time local workers must pay them at least S$1,400. This policy benefits around 159,000 lower wage workers who are not in sectors covered by the PWM.

» See also: So You Want to Go Into Teaching – Here’s What You Should Expect

Regardless of how much you are bringing home each month, there’s always a way to make your money work harder for you. This can be in the form of a high-yield savings account (HYSA) or for those who are looking for higher returns, you may be looking to get started on investing. Luckily, it’s pretty to get started with a brokerage account in Singapore.

Syfe is a great choice for young professionals taking their first step into the world of investing, as it is a well-rounded robo-advisor that offers a strong mix of portfolio options. With no minimum investment required, low management fees, and automated portfolio rebalancing, it's especially suitable for young professionals, passive investors, and those seeking diversified, long-term growth.

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As if its low commission fees aren’t enough to make moomoo SG an attractive option, customers also benefit from being part of a global investment community upon joining. The app keeps you up to date with the latest news that could affect any stocks you are holding, saving you significant time and effort. Licensed by MAS, moomoo is a great platform for mid-career professionals with a foundational knowledge of trading whose goal it is to go further with investing.

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Having been awarded the best broker for low-cost options trading by Investopedia, Webull is our recommendation for seasoned traders. Although the platform has beginner-friendly features such as no platform fees and an intuitive platform, seasoned traders will find the options trading function and advanced charting features incredibly useful.

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With all this talk on salaries, you may be interested to know how different occupations fare. We have compiled this data in the below table:

You will notice that professionals, managers, executives, and technicians (PMETs) brought home a substantially higher monthly wage than non-PMETs. Within this group, the managers and administrators earned the most, with a median salary of $10,820. On the flip side, cleaners, labourers, and related workers, were only bringing home a median salary of $2,070 per month.

Of course, the average salary also differs from industry to industry. If you are interested to find out how you stack up against others in your industry over the past three years, take a look at this table:

Looking at the trend in 2024, employees in financial and insurance services earned the highest median income of S$8,736, while those in accommodation and food services took home the lowest median income of $2,974 monthly.

After looking at the salary charts above, you’ll probably find the question as helpful as asking ‘How much should I save?” or “How much do 30 year olds earn in Singapore?”

Apart from getting a promotion, one of the best times to increase your salary is when you have a job offer. On average, jobseekers reported a 20% increase in their salary when they change jobs, with some receiving as much as 38%.

Why are we shining the spotlight on the median salary trend? To encourage you to start thinking about retirement, of course! 

Like it or not, it is crucial that we plan ahead for retirement and commit to putting money aside regularly when we have the means to hustle and earn more money. The hard truth is that our earning ability dips when we’re old. 

You don’t want to wait till it’s too late before regrets become a thing you have to deal with on the daily with little to no extra money to spare. Case in point, retirees who didn’t plan for their retirement only have an average of S$1/day to spend on things they like! Have a look at these shocking statistics — they will push you to get started on your retirement planning.  

While you’re at it, start investing early to take advantage of the magic of compound interest!