What is the top-1% benchmark used on this page?

About $364,803 of taxable income, based on Grattan Institute’s 2025 income cheat sheet using ATO 2021–22 data.

Does entering the top tax bracket make someone top 1%?

No. The current top tax bracket begins at $190,000, which is far below the approximate top-1% taxable-income benchmark.

When should I use this page instead of the top-5% page?

Use it when the package or taxable income being compared is closer to executive-level or very high-income territory than to the broader upper-income range.

Top 1 percent salary in Australia

Estimate your pay

Use the calculator below to estimate annual, monthly, fortnightly and weekly outcomes, then change HELP, private cover and pre-tax deductions to see what shifts the result.

Pay amount

Input frequency

Package setup

Residency

Household

Dependants

Salary sacrifice to super

Other pre-tax amount

Reportable fringe benefits

Net investment losses

Hours per week

Working weeks per year

Adequate private hospital cover for MLS HELP / HECS or other study loan debt Full Medicare levy exemption Uses 2025–26 tax settings

This calculator is for planning and comparison. It includes reportable fringe benefits and net investment losses in HELP and MLS income, but payroll withholding, offsets, Division 293 tax and employer-specific payroll rules can still change your final outcome.

Current benchmark: top 1 percent taxable income starts around $364,803

Grattan Institute’s 2025 budget cheat sheet reports that 99% of taxpayers had taxable income below $364,803 in 2021–22. On that measure, a taxable income of about $365k is the cleanest current benchmark for top-1-percent income discussions in Australia.

$364,803Approx top 1% taxable-income threshold

$181,305Approx top 5% threshold

$190,000Current top tax-bracket entry in 2025–26

That benchmark is far above both the average taxable income and the current top-bracket entry point. This is why top-1% conversations can distort ordinary salary expectations if the page is not explicit about what the number actually represents.

What this page is best for

Use this page for very high-income comparisons: executive packages, specialist roles with bonuses, or scenarios where sacrifice, MLS and package structure materially affect the cash result. It is not the right page for mainstream “good salary” questions; the top 10 percent page and top 5 percent page are more practical for that.

Reference point	Benchmark	Why it matters
Average taxable income	$73,381	Shows how far above average the top 1% benchmark sits.
Top 5%	$181,305	Better comparison if you are high-income but not ultra high-income.
Top 1%	$364,803	Use for executive and very-high-income take-home comparisons.

What to model carefully

Package including super versus base salary only.
Private hospital cover and MLS settings.
Pre-tax super contributions within current caps.
Whether the benchmark you are comparing against is taxable income, salary or total remuneration.

Frequently asked questions

Is $364,803 a salary or taxable-income benchmark?

It is a taxable-income benchmark from Grattan Institute’s 2025 income cheat sheet using ATO 2021–22 data.

Why is the top 1% page so different from the top tax bracket?

Because the current top bracket starts at $190,000, and the top-1% threshold is much higher than that. Being in the top bracket does not automatically mean you are near the top 1%.

Should most readers use this page?

No. Most salary comparisons are better served by the salary calculator, take-home pay page, or the top-10 and top-5 benchmark pages.