TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Officially hailed as the second-richest country per GDP in 2025 by the International Monetary Fund, Singapore owes the majority of its wealth to its impressive economic planning, which includes low unemployment rates.
For many years, workers in the city-state enjoy a good quality of life anchored by their ideal payouts. While the financial growth is commendable at first glance, what exactly is the average salary in Singapore, and does it really suffice the country’s cost of living?
To better understand the qualities at the national scale, let’s see what the experts say, as quoted from StashAway, Smartwealth, QuickHR, and Dollar&Sense.
Understanding the Average Salary in Singapore: Mean vs Median
When the discussion about average salary in Singapore resurfaces, the attention is diverted into two most talked-about benchmarks: mean and median statistics.
Mean figures, while mathematically straightforward, can be distorted by a small concentration of top earners, creating an inflated sense of prosperity that most workers never experience.
By contrast, the median salary cuts through these extreme gaps to reveal the true middle ground of earnings, presenting a more grounded reflection of what a typical individual takes home.
For governments, businesses, and workers alike, the median offers a more accurate view of income levels, demonstrating far more closely how most people truly earn and live.
What is the Average Salary in Singapore by Median?
The average salary in Singapore reached S$5,500 per month in 2024, translating to S$66,000 annually, or approximately US$4,074 per month and US$48,888 per year.
Over the past decade, median monthly income has climbed steadily from S$3,770 in 2014, representing a cumulative increase of about 45.9%.
This growth of median income in Singaporean households corresponds to a nominal annualized rise of roughly 3.8%, while inflation-adjusted figures point to a real annual growth rate of around 2.2%.
Collectively, this steady growth highlights Singapore’s strong economic footing and its ongoing success in lifting residents’ purchasing power and financial quality of life.
Average Salary in Singapore by Gender
The gender pay gap remains a widely examined issue in Singapore’s labour market. Despite broad access to education and employment opportunities for both men and women, income disparities persist, with men earning around 8% more on average.
Salary trajectories for both genders follow a similar arc, typically rising through the prime working years of 40 to 49 before tapering off.
For the record, women earn more than men in the younger age brackets, with median monthly salaries of S$1,755 versus S$936 for ages 15-19, S$3,510 versus S$2,925 for ages 20-24, and S$4,778 versus S$4,680 for ages 25-29.
From age 30 onwards, men consistently out-earn women, with median salaries reaching S$8,356 for men versus S$6,543 for women at ages 45-49, before the gap narrows again in later years, falling to S$3,161 for men and S$2,985 for women aged 60 and above.
Several structural and social factors help explain this shift. Younger women often enter higher-paying roles earlier, while men’s early careers are shaped by National Service and ongoing reservist commitments that may limit work experience in their formative years.
Around the early 30s, however, income patterns diverged more sharply. This coincides with the median age of first-time motherhood in Singapore, around 31.8 years, when some women may scale back working hours or take career breaks. In addition, employed men work about 8% more hours per week than women, contributing to higher overall earnings.
Average Salary in Singapore by Age
The average salary in Singapore tends to climb steadily with age, reaching a high of S$7,498 among those aged 45-49 in 2024, before easing to S$3,052 for workers aged 60 and above.
In most age brackets, 2024 salaries outpaced earlier years, with particularly strong gains among those aged 30-34, whose median income rose from S$5,222 in 2021 to S$5,870 in 2024.
Income progression in Singapore underscores how both age and occupation play a decisive role in long-term earning potential. Higher-skilled roles such as managers, professionals, and PMETs benefit from strong wage momentum through their prime working years, with earnings usually topping out in the mid-40s to early-50s before gradually declining.
Average Salary in Singapore by Education
Education continues to be a powerful determinant of earning potential in Singapore’s labour market. Workers with non-tertiary qualifications, ranging from below secondary to post-secondary (non-tertiary), remain clustered at the lower end of the income spectrum, while degree holders sit firmly at the top.
Even so, across all qualification levels, earnings increased year on year, with diploma and professional qualification holders seeing their median salary climb from S$4,754 in 2023 to S$5,000 in 2024.
Individuals with secondary education earn nearly 40% more than those who did not complete secondary school and, notably, also out-earn those with post-secondary qualifications that fall short of a diploma. At the upper end, degree holders command the highest median monthly salary at S$8,656-S$3,656, or 73.1%, more than diploma and professional qualification holders.
Taken as a whole, the data shows that the average salary in Singapore is shaped by a mix of age, gender, education, and occupation, with median figures offering the clearest picture of what most residents actually earn.
While incomes have risen steadily over time, understanding how these factors interact is key to assessing whether wages can truly keep pace with living costs.
For a broader global perspective, read our comparison of the average salary in Canada vs USA to see how Singapore stacks up against other major economies.
Read: Average Salary in Canada vs the USA, Which Country Pays More?
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