Every Australian who has looked at an American job ad has had the same moment. The number is bigger. Sometimes much bigger. Before you conclude that Australia underpays, it is worth being precise about what each number includes — because the two systems put very different things inside the salary.
Do Americans earn more than Australians?
At the top of the market, yes, and by a lot — particularly in tech, finance and medicine. Across the whole workforce the gap is much smaller than headline salaries suggest, because an Australian salary excludes 12% superannuation and does not have to fund health cover, and because Australia’s wage floor is far higher.
The four things a comparison usually misses
- Superannuation is on top. An Australian “$120,000 plus super” is $134,400 of employer cost. American retirement contributions are typically a voluntary match on a much smaller base, if offered at all.
- Health cover. Medicare covers the floor for every Australian resident for a 2% levy. A US employer package usually includes health insurance with premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs that vary enormously — and that ends when the job does.
- Leave is statutory. Four weeks of paid annual leave plus ten days paid personal leave plus public holidays are legal minimums here. The United States has no federal statutory paid annual leave at all.
- The floor is much higher. Australia’s national minimum wage was $24.95 an hour from 1 July 2025. The US federal minimum has been US$7.25 since 2009. The bottom half of the two labour markets are not comparable.
What the medians look like
Australia’s full-time median is about $90,500 a year (ABS, August 2025). US median usual weekly earnings for full-time wage and salary workers run around US$1,200 a week — roughly US$62,000 a year (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025; check the current release for the latest figure).
Convert with care. Exchange rates move constantly, and converting a salary at today’s rate is meaningless when you spend the money in the country you live in. The useful comparison is not “what is this in AUD” — it is what each package buys where it is earned, after tax, health cover and retirement contributions.
Where the US genuinely wins
Being fair about it: the American premium at the top is real and large. Senior technology, investment banking, law and specialist medicine pay multiples of the Australian equivalent, particularly in a handful of coastal cities. Equity compensation at large US technology companies has no meaningful Australian counterpart outside their local offices. If you are in the top few per cent of a globally traded skill, the gap is not an illusion.
The trade is volatility. At-will employment, health cover tied to the job, and no statutory redundancy framework mean the downside is steeper. That is a genuine preference, not a wrong answer — but it should be priced deliberately rather than discovered later.
How to compare two offers properly
| Line | Australian offer | US offer |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | Base excluding super | Base |
| Retirement | +12% super, compulsory | Employer match if any, usually far less |
| Health | Medicare levy 2%, private optional | Premiums + deductible + out-of-pocket |
| Paid annual leave | 4 weeks minimum, by law | Whatever is negotiated |
| Job security | Notice, redundancy, unfair dismissal | Generally at-will |
| Equity | Rare outside startups | Common at scale in tech |
Run both down to an annual after-tax figure plus the value of what you would otherwise have to buy. The Australian number closes far more of the gap than the headline suggests — and in the bottom two thirds of the market it often wins outright.
The more useful comparison
For most people the American number is a distraction. You are not competing with a San Francisco salary; you are competing with what the person in the next team is paid for your job in your city. That is the gap you can actually close this quarter. Check your Australian market position free, then read it against the Australian salary percentile table.
And if you are comparing an Australian offer against your current role, get the units right first — base, package and OTE explained.
An Australian salary is a base. An American salary is a base that also has to buy your healthcare, your retirement and your time off.
Australian figures from ABS Employee Earnings (August 2025) and the Fair Work Ombudsman. US figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — check the current release, as these update quarterly.
