Do You Earn More Than $52,350 The Median Annual Income?
March 10th, 2010
$52,350 is the median income of all resident taxpayers for YA2008, which I calculated based on the numbers in IRAS annual reports.
You can use this income comparison tool to see which percentile you belong to.
However, the main objective of this article is to show how much the median income has grown over the years, as inspired by the Singapore Budget Speech 2010 (more on this later).
For YA2004, which assessed your income earned in 2003, the median assessable income of all resident taxpayers was $48,450.
This grew to $49,100 in 2004, then to $49,850 in 2005. It subsequently increased to $50,800 in 2006, and finally to $52,350 in 2007 (i.e. YA2008).
Over the 5 years from 2003 to 2007, the median income grew by about 2% per year on average. The figure for 2007 is about 8% higher than that for 2003.
However, in the Budget Speech 2010 given by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the “median income” apparently grew at a faster rate, from an index value of 103 for 2003 to 116 for 2007. This is a 12.6% increase.
What gives?
Note that Mr Tharman uses median income per Singaporean household member. Further, as stated in a footnote, the data “refers to non-retiree Singaporean households” and “excludes households consisting solely of non-working persons over 60.”
As an aside, we do not know if “Singaporean households” refer to households consisting of purely Singapore citizens, or a mix of citizens and PRs. To me, it is technically correct either way. Let me know if you think otherwise.
Without more details, we can only make educated guesses.
First, household sizes may have decreased over the years. Besides falling birth rates, we also have more foreigners arriving here to work. I do not think the typical foreigner brings along many dependents here. Perhaps Mr Tharman can also provide a corresponding chart that shows the median household sizes over the years.
Second, is there a special reason to exclude retiree households? We know that Singapore has an ageing population and that many baby boomers are now entering retirement. Many of these retirees depend on somebody else’s income to get by. It will be good if Mr Tharman can provide an additional chart to show the number of retiree households over the years.
Anyway.
Was your income in 2007 (or YA2008) more than $52,350?
Do You Earn More Than $52,350 – The Median Annual Income? (salary.sg) Says:
March 10th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
[...] Do You Earn More Than $52,350 The Median Annual Income? [...]
ek888 Says:
March 11th, 2010 at 11:01 am
don’t be upset by the report , $52,350 is the average income of those who are paying tax including the millionaires but excludes many many people whom are not taxable.
salaried Says:
March 11th, 2010 at 11:11 am
not avg but middle, meening that if you ranked salaries of all tax payers from richest to poorest from 1 to 999,999 then 52350 is no. 500,000…ok i feel depressed already
median is not average Says:
March 11th, 2010 at 11:11 am
ek888, do you know the difference between median and average?
If you use the average, it will be skewed by the big numbers, but if you use the median, the skewing effect is effectively not there- hence giving a better way to do comparisons.
Example: the average of 1,2,3,4,5000 is 1002 but the median of the same five numbers is 3!
timothy Says:
March 12th, 2010 at 6:19 am
so you see, Mr Mah is correct. HDB is affordable! a 400k flat is about 8 times annual income. (50k S$) If you save 30$ of your income, it takes about 24 years or less to pay for the flat.
Vote for SGP instead of SIN for Singapore Says:
March 12th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
I’m 23, my gf is 22, and we have combined salary of S$ 114,000 per annum… hmmm… but the graph doesn’t include the ages of the taxable tax-payers though… darn…
curious Says:
March 12th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
so young and already making so much? are you guys self-employed?
Vote for SGP instead of SIN for Singapore Says:
March 12th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Hi curious,
we’re working in foreign banks in Singapore.
it’s not exactly ‘much’, as compared to the people who started earlier and enjoyed the peak in 2007, but i guess it’s sufficient for both of us to save up, pay back our study loans, and work towards wedding and beyond.
so high Says:
March 12th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
wow, young people now earning so high, no wonder property prices have been going up and up in recent years
Poor but surviving Says:
March 14th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
young and earning so much!
dispel Says:
March 14th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
21 + 23 so young means both of you dont even have a degree. what study loan to talk about? poly? diploma in a foreign earning $114,000 combined is pretty incredible
Curious Says:
March 15th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Hi Vote for SGP instead of SIN for Singapore Says,
Would you know how much a product specialist can make in a foreign bank?
musicwhiz Says:
March 16th, 2010 at 12:21 am
It’s not how much you earn, it’s how much you KEEP!
Vote for SGP instead of SIN for Singapore Says:
March 16th, 2010 at 12:58 am
Hello Curious,
As of 2010 intake, I could say that fresh grads entering Product Control of bank’s operations department are earning around 40-50k per annum, thus, for a ’specialist’, that would take 3-5 years to reach that position. I’d say around 70-100k generically, depending on one’s performance.
Vote for SGP instead of SIN for Singapore Says:
March 16th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
@ dispel:
My gf (22 y.o., not 21) has a first class honours in B.Sc. Economics.
IFor myself (23), I have a Bachelor of Engineering.
Have I answered your question?
Curious Says:
March 16th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Hi Vote for SGP instead of SIN for Singapore Says,
Wow… 70- 100k for 3-5 years experience … is bonus included? If not, what would typical bonus be?
Vote for SGP instead of SIN for Singapore Says:
March 16th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
For Singapore university, the youngest age one can graduate is for a girl to enroll in 3-year Nanyang Business School for direct honours.
However, in my gf’s case, she had her A Levels since 17, and she went on to the UK to enroll in economics which is a 3-year course for direct honours as well.
In fact, in America, age isn’t a concern at all, as long as we have the right qualification. A junior of mine had obtained her B.Sc. Biomedical Science at the age of 18, and she is now enrolled into a medical school, at the age of 19. It’s not surprising, really.
@Dispel, broaden up your mind. Age ‘limit’ or ‘at this age u can’t possibly have a degree’ mentality is not exactly applicable.
Vote for SGP instead of SIN for Singapore Says:
March 16th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
@Curious: No, that figure doesn’t include bonus.
Regarding ‘typical’ bonus, it highly depends on individual performance indicator, as well as the company’s overall performance for that financial year.
Some may not even receive bonuses. However, typically, 1-3 months’ worth is the amount with most people would receive this year, after 2008-2009 catastrophe. However, that’s for finance sector.
For oil&gas industry, I have friends who receive 6-8 months’ worth.
Curious Says:
March 16th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
Hi Vote for SGP instead of SIN for Singapore Says,
I see – what is the career path after 5 years for a product specialist then… are prospects good for furtherment of career (senior product specialist?)? How long can someone stay as product specialist before they kick you out for being too old…
Vote for SGP instead of SIN for Singapore Says:
March 16th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
analyst -> associate -> assistant manager -> manager -> assistant v.p. -> v.p. -> vice director -> director
generally this is the career path in financial industry (at least 7-8 steps to the top, each step require 2-5 years to overcome)
the product specialist we talked about possibly can be referred to as an associate, in terms of corporate title.
In my opinion, the keyword is ‘relevance’. As long as our skills are updated and relevant to the company and the industry, through various means of traning that the company provides, I don’t think anyone would be kicked out for being ‘too old’, but rather, for being ‘irrelevant’.
Curious Says:
March 16th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
so many levels! but now i know why they say finance industry pay so well…
associate level already earn 70k-100k (excluding 3-4 months bonus)..think by the time a person hits v.p., package probably doubles!
kacau kacau Says:
March 17th, 2010 at 12:51 am
I thought Asst VP comes under branch/dept manager…
Vote for SGP instead of SIN for Singapore Says:
March 17th, 2010 at 1:41 am
that was ‘generic’
corporate title ladder differs from commercial bank
to investment bank to private bank to boutique bank =)
passerby Says:
March 25th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
bunch of Bullcrap survey and answers..most inaccurate crap ever..
Curious Says:
March 26th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Still dunno why an investment banker is not included in the list of occupations of the MOM. Does any one know?
maybe Says:
March 26th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
maybe some of them are called “managing directors”?
there is always one better and one worse Says:
April 5th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
just enjoy your work and life…money is important but not all…. …..
………………………….
there is always 1 better and 1 worse…
Working under a uncapable boss Says:
April 15th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Does the median income include transport allowance?
solo Says:
April 20th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
My annual income is definetly way below this amount. However, I must stressed that I am not a degree holder.
Elysdeon Says:
April 20th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
woot i am just over the median not including my bonuses. 30 yrs old in banking.
Mike Says:
May 28th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
don’t study engineering. The worst and usefless job in Singapore context. Work like dog and pay peanuts.
Kong Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 1:44 am
Whats the big deal here about two twenty something earning barely 100k, do you guys need to bombard them with so much questions. If you doesnt measure up, just work towards it.
if it serve any purpose. i am 30 years old, retired at 27, worth 4m USD. Now earning 800k per annum trading my own money. And yes, i dun need to empahise i have a first class Hons, because it doesnt count for shit. you are not going to make more money even if you have a PhD.
tsk tsk…who gives a shit about median income
anonymous Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 10:15 am
Kong: does your given name happen to be Hee?