Median salary
The salary level at which exactly half of workers in a population earn more and half earn less — distinct from the (typically higher) mean.
The median salary is the midpoint of a salary distribution: half the workers in the population earn more, half earn less. It is reported separately by each country's national statistics authority — ONS in the UK, BLS in the US, INSEE in France, INE in Spain, destatis in Germany. For payroll-data purposes, median is the standard reference because it is robust to outliers, unlike the mean which is skewed upward by extreme high earners.
On this site, the job-anchored landing pages (/[country]/jobs/[job]) use the country-specific median annual salary as the calculator anchor. Your actual salary will differ — plug a different gross into the calculator above the page to see the take-home for your specific income.
Median salaries shift slightly year on year. The values on this site are 2024 reference figures; refresh after each authority publishes its annual update (ONS ASHE in October, BLS OES in May).
Calculator pages that use this term
See also
- Gross pay — The total annual salary before any tax, social-insurance, or pension deductions are taken out.
- Net pay (take-home) — The amount actually deposited in the employee's bank account after every statutory deduction.
- Tax year — The 12-month period over which annual tax is computed — calendar year in most countries, April-to-April in the UK.