The average full-time adult in Australia earns $2,157 a week ($112,138 a year), from ABS Average Weekly Earnings for Jan to Jun 2026. The median is lower: half of all employees, full-time and part-time, earned under $1,425 a week in August 2025. For full-time employees the median was $1,841 for men and $1,631 for women (ABS Employee Earnings).
That is about $56.75 an hour on a 38-hour week. By state, the average ranges from $1,904.20 a week in TAS to $2,332.20 in ACT.
Valid: Jan to Jun 2026 · Source: ABS Average Weekly Earnings (Cat. 6302.0), full-time adults
Full-time adult average weekly earnings by state and territory, ranked highest to lowest.
Valid: Jan to Jun 2026 · Source: ABS Average Weekly Earnings (Cat. 6302.0)
| Rank | State | Per week | Per year | Per week, to scale | Against the national average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australian Capital Territory ACT | $2,332.20 | $121,274/year | +$175.70 vs national average | |
| 2 | Western Australia WA | $2,317.80 | $120,526/year | +$161.30 vs national average | |
| 3 | New South Wales NSW | $2,177.30 | $113,220/year | +$20.80 vs national average | |
| 4 | Queensland QLD | $2,130.00 | $110,760/year | -$26.50 vs national average | |
| 5 | Victoria VIC | $2,102.20 | $109,314/year | -$54.30 vs national average | |
| 6 | Northern Territory NT | $2,092.10 | $108,789/year | -$64.40 vs national average | |
| 7 | South Australia SA | $2,033.90 | $105,763/year | -$122.60 vs national average | |
| 8 | Tasmania TAS | $1,904.20 | $99,018/year | -$252.30 vs national average |
Workers in Australian Capital Territory earn $428.00 a week more than workers in Tasmania, or $22,256 a year.
Average weekly earnings by industry, full-time adults, Jan to Jun 2026. The highest-paid industry averages 2.2 times the lowest.
Full-time adult average weekly earnings for men and women, national total. Men earn 14.0% more than women on average.
Valid: Jan to Jun 2026 · Source: ABS Average Weekly Earnings (Cat. 6302.0), full-time adults
Half-yearly average weekly earnings by state since 2020. Hover to compare.
Three comparisons worked out from the figures above.
A full-time worker in Mining earns $3,329.80 a week, 2.2 times the $1,541.50 a week earned in Accommodation and Food Services. Over a year the difference is $92,992.
Source: ABS Average Weekly Earnings, Jan to Jun 2026.
Men in full-time work earn 14.0% more than women on average, or $319.00 a week. That is $16,588 a year, or $663,520 over a 40-year career, unadjusted. The gap has been narrowing slowly.
Source: ABS Average Weekly Earnings, Jan to Jun 2026.
The median house price in NSW is about $1,400,000. The average NSW full-time salary of $113,220 a year is 8.1% of that price, so buying outright would take 12.4 years of gross earnings, or about 17.7 years of take-home pay at an assumed 30% tax rate.
Source: ABS Average Weekly Earnings, Jan to Jun 2026; house price is a CoreLogic estimate.