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The ABS August 2025 survey puts median hourly earnings at $59.50 for professionals and $58.80 for managers, compared with $30.80 for sales workers. These are broad groups covering full-time and part-time employees, not advertised salaries or guaranteed rates for a particular role.
The eight occupation-group benchmarks
The table uses median hourly earnings in the main job. A median marks the middle of a distribution. An hourly comparison helps separate pay from the number of hours worked, although it cannot remove differences in seniority, location or employment conditions.
| Occupation group | Median per hour |
|---|---|
| Professionals | $59.50 |
| Managers | $58.80 |
| Clerical and Administrative Workers | $41.40 |
| Technicians and Trades Workers | $39.00 |
| Machinery Operators and Drivers | $36.40 |
| Community and Personal Service Workers | $36.30 |
| Labourers | $32.00 |
| Sales Workers | $30.80 |
Why this page does not give each group an annual salary
Multiplying an hourly median by 38 hours and 52 weeks would create a full-year illustration. It would not become the surveyed annual median for that occupation. We keep the published unit here so the comparison does not imply more precision than the evidence supports.
For your own offer, use the guaranteed paid hours and weeks in the contract. Keep paid leave, unpaid breaks, variable rosters, overtime and super wording in view. The hourly-pay calculator can turn your actual arrangement into a salary and take-home estimate.
Occupation and industry answer different questions
An occupation describes the work a person does. An industry describes the business they work for. An accountant employed by a mine and a machine operator at the same site need different job comparisons, even though they share an industry.
Start with the role, then narrow it by responsibilities, experience, location and working pattern. A broad professional benchmark can help set context, but it cannot tell a graduate nurse, software developer and senior lawyer what their separate offers should be.
Treat comparisons with an award or agreement as a separate check. A survey median describes observed earnings; it does not establish the minimum an employer must pay for your classification or shift.
A practical way to compare an offer
First write down the guaranteed cash salary, employer super, ordinary weekly hours and any regular allowances. Put an uncertain bonus on a separate line. This prevents an attractive package total from hiding a smaller salary.
Then compare roles with similar scope. Managing a team, being on call, holding specialist registration or travelling between sites can change what the job asks of you. An occupation-group median does not price those responsibilities.
Finally, compare after-tax cash and the time the job takes. A higher salary with extra commuting or unpaid overtime may deliver a smaller improvement per hour of your life. Use the real-hourly-pay tool with your own costs rather than assuming a national average covers them.
Source, date and limitations
The figures come from the ABS Employee earnings release for August 2025, published on 12 December 2025. We checked the source on 2 October 2026. The measurement period remains August 2025; we have not increased the figures by an assumed wage-growth rate.
We reproduce all eight major occupation groups from the table named “Median hourly earnings in main job, by occupation and skill level”, using its August 2025 column. Skill-level rows are outside this comparison. The download names the source table and classification so readers can check the transcription.
These main-job survey estimates cover employees, including full-time and part-time work. They are not a full-time-only salary ranking, a survey of advertised vacancies, or an estimate of self-employed revenue. Broad groups and sampling uncertainty limit what can be inferred about an individual role.
Data and citation
Download the eight published ABS occupation-group hourly medians, with the exact source table, period and comparison limits. These are survey estimates reproduced by Paycalcmate, not original Paycalcmate survey findings.
The CSV includes the data rows and a link to the JSON methods file. Keep the methods with any figures you reuse.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Employee earnings, August 2025, occupation hourly medians; presentation by Paycalcmate, checked 2 October 2026. https://paycalcmate.au/average-salary-by-occupation/
Common questions
Are these average or median salaries?
The page uses published median hourly earnings. It does not present means or claim that an hourly median is an annual salary. The unit and measure stay attached to every figure.
Can I compare a casual rate directly with these medians?
Use the figure as broad context, then compare paid leave, casual loading, guaranteed hours and other conditions separately. One hourly number cannot capture the whole employment arrangement.
Do these figures show which career I should choose?
No. They do not measure training costs, entry requirements, personal fit or the likelihood of getting a particular job. They are a starting point for understanding pay.
Sources you can check
Sources checked for this page on 2 October 2026. Statistics keep their own measurement dates.