Australia’s average income is higher than you’d think

Inflation is soaring, and the price of living is going up, but thankfully our wages are also rising.

According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the average Australian income has risen 1.8% to $52,338.

Sure, it’s not enough to cancel out the pushed-up cost of our bills, but it is good news, especially if you live in one of the states or local government areas (LGAs) where the take-home wage is significantly higher than the average.

Would you be surprised to hear that Canberra’s median wage is significantly higher than the country-wide average at $68,325?

That’s 2.5% higher than the previous year - the fastest rate of growth across the country.

The Northern Territory follows close behind with a $62,010 median total income, even despite recording the slowest annual increase of just 0.8% year-on-year.

At the other end of the scale, Tasmanians have the lowest median total income of just $46,909 - that’s $21,416 per year less than those in Canberra.

The data also reveals that of all the states and territories, the top 1% of earners received the greatest share of the state's total personal income in New South Wales (10.8%).

In fact, New South Wales is also home to the greatest share of the top 5% and top 10% of earners at 24% and 35.1% respectively.

Here’s the full overview of Australia’s personal income distribution by state:

Source: ABS

LGAs with the highest income

Drilling down into the data even further, the ABS also reveals the LGAs with the highest median total income for areas with more than 1,000 earners.

Interestingly, Western Australia dominates the list with two of the three LGAs with the highest median total income across the country.

It’s worth noting that given Canberra has no LGAs, its residents are only included in one bulk of data.

Ashburton and Peppermint Grove have a median income of $99,367 and $96,224 respectively, taking the first and third places on the shortlist.

In second place is Roxby Downs in South Australia, where the average income is $98,955.

By state: Woollahra, North Sydney, Mosman and Lane Cove are home to the highest median income for New South Wales.

For Victoria, the notable suburbs are Yarra, Stonnington, Port Phillip and Bayside.

In Queensland, Wepia, Issac, Mount Isa and Cloncurry have the highest median incomes across the state.

In South Australia, Roxby Downs, Walkerville, Unley and Burnside have the state’s top median incomes.

Over in Western Australia, Port Headland and Karratha join Ashburton and Peppermint Grove to make the top four LGAs for the state.

Clarence, Brighton, West Coast and Kingsborough were the 4 LGAs in Tasmania with the highest median income.

Meanwhile, in the Northern Territory, Palmerston, Litchfield, Katherine and Darwin make the list.

Source: ABS

So, where is the income coming from?

When it comes to the source of this personal income, unsurprisingly the majority (77.5%) received employee income as their main source of income, up slightly from 77.4% in the previous year.

ABS data shows that employee income recorded the highest median income ($54,161), which was 3.3% greater than the previous year.

The second highest median income ($22,828) comes from superannuation, with a 0.4% increase year-on-year.

Only 1.6% of persons received superannuation income as their main source of income (unchanged from the previous year).

Source: ABS

A final note

No matter how much you earn, or where you live, it’s important to remember that property investment is available to everyone from all walks of life.

The data already shows us that you don’t have to be among Australia’s richest to be within a chance of creating your own property portfolio - although it would make it easier and more likely.

Most importantly, you need to start by having a plan and a time-tested proven strategy.

In fact, a recent audit of Metropole clients showed they were 7.3 times more likely to own six or more investment properties than the average property investor and that’s because we always start by helping them build a personalised Strategic Property Plan that contains the following components:

1. An asset accumulation strategy
2. A manufacturing capital growth strategy
3. A rental growth strategy
4. An asset protection and tax minimisation strategy
5. A finance strategy including long-term debt reduction and…
6. A living off your property portfolio strategy

It’s vital to remember that in order to become a successful investor you will need to surround yourself with a team of independent and unbiased professional advisors (not salespeople).

A team of people who are known, proven, and trusted, so it is probably appropriate to remind you that in changing times like we are experiencing, no one can help you quite like the independent property investment strategists at Metropole.

About Brett Warren Brett Warren is National Director of Metropole Properties and uses his two decades of property investment experience to advise clients how to grow, protect and pass on their wealth through strategic property advice.