The average salary in Japan is about 487万円 a year (about US$32,440), according to the National Tax Agency's Private-Sector Salary Survey, 令和7年分. That is the mean across everyone who worked a full year; it is pulled upward by high earners, so most people earn less than it (see average versus median below). Below it is broken down by gender, employment type, company size, age, industry and city, and you can turn any annual figure into real take-home pay.
National average annual salary
Source: 国税庁 民間給与実態統計調査, 令和7年分. These are annual, gross (額面).
| Group | Average annual | Take-home |
|---|
Monthly pay
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Basic Survey on Wage Structure measures monthly scheduled cash earnings (所定内給与額, for June, before tax, excluding overtime), for general workers. Source: 厚生労働省 賃金構造基本統計調査, 令和7年.
| Group | Monthly (所定内) |
|---|---|
| All | |
| Men | |
| Women |
The women-to-men ratio is . Monthly figures exclude bonuses and overtime, so they are not simply the annual figure divided by twelve.
By company size
Larger companies pay more. Monthly scheduled earnings (所定内, all workers), same MHLW source (large = 1,000+ employees, medium = 100 to 999, small = 10 to 99):
| Company size | Monthly (所定内) |
|---|---|
| Large | |
| Medium | |
| Small |
By age
Pay rises with age and tenure. For men it peaks in the early-to-mid 50s; for women the age curve is much flatter. Average annual salary by age band (National Tax Agency, all workers / men / women):
| Age band | All | Men | Women |
|---|
Highest male band, . Monthly, the MHLW survey peaks at for men and for women.
By industry
Pay varies widely by industry (National Tax Agency, average annual):
- Highest:
- Lowest:
Tokyo versus the national figure
Tokyo is the highest-paying prefecture. Its monthly scheduled earnings are , against the national (MHLW, 令和7年, 第8図 都道府県別賃金).
Average versus median
The average above (about 487万円 a year) is the mean, and a relatively small number of very high earners pull it up. The median, the midpoint where half earn more and half earn less, is lower. The National Tax Agency publishes no median, but from its salary-bracket table, of full-year earners made 4 million yen or less and made 5 million yen or less, so the median earner falls in the 4 million to 5 million yen bracket, below the average (calculated from the NTA bracket table). When you compare an offer, compare it against the median rather than the average if you can.
Jobs foreigners often search
Two roles come up a lot, and official figures exist for both:
- IT / software engineer: a year on average ().
- JET Programme ALTs: approximately in year 1, in year 2, in year 3, and in years 4 and 5.
If you have a specific offer, put the number into the calculator below to see the take-home.
See your own take-home pay in the calculator →Sources (checked )
Average annual salary, employment type, age, industry and the median brackets: 国税庁 民間給与実態統計調査（令和7年分）. Monthly pay, company size, gender gap and Tokyo: 厚生労働省 賃金構造基本統計調査（令和7年）. Software-developer pay: MHLW job tag. ALT pay: 2026 JET Programme Application Guidelines, section 2(3) Remuneration, with year 1 also on the Embassy of Japan in India 2027 ALT page. Figures are official survey or programme figures and are informational only.