Where does your income rank?
See exactly where your salary sits among Australian taxpayers — plus the country's highest-paying jobs and richest postcodes.
Your $85,000 income is higher than an estimated
60%
of Australian taxpayers.
Above the median taxpayer ($70,664)$85,000
$70,664
$162,972
Based on ATO Taxation Statistics 2023-24 — the distribution of taxable income across the 12.6m Australians with taxable income above $0.
Your $85,000 is 18% of a surgeon's average.
ATO Taxation Statistics (2022-23).
ATO Taxation Statistics (2022-23).
Australian pay talk runs on averages, and averages mislead. A small number of very large incomes drags the mean above what a typical person earns: across all individuals in the ATO's data the mean taxable income is $78,127 while the median is $58,739. A ranking answers a more useful question — how many taxpayers sit below you.
Treat it as a reference point, not a verdict: it knows nothing about your hours, household or cost of living.
How this is calculated
- 1
Your income is placed on the ATO percentile ladder
Your figure is compared against nine published entry points, from the 10th percentile to the 99th, for Australians with taxable income above $0 — each the income needed to reach that percentile.
- 2
Gaps between the rungs are interpolated
An income between two published points is placed by straight-line interpolation. Below the lowest rung it scales proportionally from zero; above the 99th-percentile entry point of $306,054 it caps at 99.
- 3
The top-earner badge uses separate thresholds
The green top 10% / 5% / 1% badge is not read off the ladder. It uses the ATO's own top-group thresholds of $162,972, $208,281 and $429,531, which sit above the matching rungs — the 90th-percentile entry point is $156,957 — so it is the stricter test.
- 4
The gauge marks the median taxpayer
The bar runs from 0 to 100 with a marker at the median taxable income of $70,664. Half of all taxpayers sit either side, so landing above or below it is the clearest single read.
- 5
The advanced panel adds take-home pay
The advanced section runs your salary through the current-year resident brackets and Medicare levy, optionally with salary sacrifice, HECS/HELP and the surcharge, then shows the pay rise needed to reach the next rung.
What it assumes
- It covers individuals with taxable income above $0 — taxpayers, not all adults — and ranks one person at a time. Two partners each on the median both rank at the median, while their household sits far higher.
- The distribution is ATO Taxation Statistics 2023-24. Nominal wages keep moving, so the same dollar figure ranks slightly lower each year before the next edition lands.
- Nothing adjusts for age, sex, state, occupation or hours worked. Part-time, part-year and full-time incomes share one ladder, and the ATO's medians differ by sex ($67,904 for men, $51,419 for women).
- Percentiles between published points are interpolated and the advanced panel's curve is smoothed — good for placing yourself, not for precise gaps.
Common questions
Should I enter my gross salary or my taxable income?
Taxable income is the right input, because that is what the ladder is built from: it is measured after deductions and counts investment and business income, not only wages. For most employees the difference barely moves the rank; large work expenses, a negatively geared property or deductible personal super contributions place you further down than your payslip suggests.
Why is the median lower than the average wage figures I see quoted?
A median and a mean differ: across all individuals the ATO's median taxable income is $58,739 while the mean is $78,127, lifted by the top of the distribution. This tool uses the higher $70,664 median for people with taxable income above $0 — still below full-time wage headlines, because the ATO counts part-time and part-year earners too.
I'm above the 90th percentile but get no top 10% badge — why?
The two come from different ATO figures. The ladder's 90th-percentile entry point is $156,957, below the published top-10% threshold of $162,972, so a band of incomes clears one but not the other. The badge waits for the stricter.
Does salary sacrificing into super move me down the rankings?
Not in this tool — the advanced panel ranks your gross salary, so your position holds as you increase sacrifice. In reality, sacrificed super lowers the taxable income the ATO records, but it is added back as reportable employer contributions for income tests such as the Medicare levy surcharge.
Are the highest-paying jobs and richest postcodes from the same data?
They are ATO Taxation Statistics too, but the 2022-23 edition, and averages by occupation and postcode rather than medians. An average inside a small group is easily lifted by its highest earners, so read them as a rough ordering of the top rather than typical pay.
Sources: ATO Taxation Statistics 2023-24 · ATO Medicare levy surcharge thresholds · All data sources
See also: Take-home pay · Couple take-home · Pay rise vs inflation · Wealth
General information only, not financial advice. Figures are estimates based on the inputs and assumptions above and don't account for your personal circumstances. Confirm anything important with the relevant authority or a licensed adviser.