Current benchmark: top 10 percent taxable income starts around $137,285
Grattan Institute’s 2025 budget cheat sheet reports that 90% of taxpayers had taxable income below $137,285 in 2021–22. That makes about $137k taxable income a useful benchmark for top-10-percent discussions, even though the exact cut-off moves over time.
This page deliberately treats the figure as benchmark context, not a timeless status label. The tax year in the source data is 2021–22, while the calculator uses 2025–26 tax settings for planning.
Why this page is different from the top 5% and top 1% pages
The top 10% page is usually the most practical high-income benchmark. It is closer to real senior-professional, specialist and leadership salary conversations than the top 1% page, and less extreme than executive-only comparisons. Use it when you want a high-income reference point that still sits inside many mainstream job-offer discussions.
| Benchmark | Income level | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Top 10% | About $137,285 taxable income | Roughly 90% of taxpayers were below this level in 2021–22. |
| Top tax bracket | $190,000 taxable income | Current 2025–26 marginal-rate threshold, but still above the top-10 cutoff. |
| Average taxable income | $73,381 | Useful midpoint check for how far above average this page sits. |
How to use the calculator properly at this level
- Test base salary against package including super if your offer is quoted as total package.
- Turn on private hospital cover if you are checking Medicare levy surcharge exposure.
- Add salary sacrifice or other pre-tax deductions if your take-home result looks too blunt.
- Compare with the top 5 percent page if the offer is closer to $180k than $140k.
Frequently asked questions
Is $137,285 an official permanent top-10% salary line?
No. It is a sourced benchmark from Grattan Institute’s 2025 cheat sheet using ATO 2021–22 taxable-income data. Thresholds move over time.
Why is this page about taxable income rather than salary only?
Because the published percentile data here is for taxable income. Salary, reportable super, deductions and packaging can all make the comparison less direct.
Should I use the top tax bracket instead?
Not for top-10 context. The current top bracket starts at $190,000, which is materially above the approximate top-10 threshold.