Am I being underpaid? How to check your pay against the market in NZ
To check whether you are underpaid, compare your pay with what employers are currently offering for the same role, at the same level, in the same region, for the same hours. National medians give context, but job ads, recruiters and colleagues give the comparison that matters. If you are more than about 10% below the going rate, or your pay has fallen behind prices, you have a case to raise it.
Where reliable New Zealand pay data comes from, and where it does not
Some pay data is solid. Inland Revenue publishes what wage and salary earners were actually paid: 2,840,300 of them in the year ended 31 March 2026, with a median of $61,958. Those figures come from payroll records.
Other sources need care:
- Job ads that show pay are current and specific, but Seek said in November 2023 that only about one employer in four showed a salary on its ads, and the ones that do may not be typical.
- Recruiters see many offers in your field and will often tell you the usual band, though their view is shaped by the roles they fill.
- Colleagues and peers give you real figures for similar work. Since 27 August 2025, employees are protected when they discuss or disclose their pay, or ask about someone else's.
- Salary surveys and online calculators vary widely in quality. Check who was surveyed, how many, and when.
The strongest comparison uses several of these together, for your role rather than your job title alone.
Reading the median and the bands
The median is the midpoint: half of wage earners get less, half get more. Inland Revenue's figures for the year ended 31 March 2026, as set out in New Zealand work in numbers, show where a salary sits:
| Salary a year | Wage earners paid less |
|---|---|
| $60,000 | 48% |
| $80,000 | 66% |
| $100,000 | 78% |
These figures include part-time and part-year earners, so they compare you with everyone who earned wages, not with full-time workers in your occupation. Use them to see where you sit overall, and job-specific evidence to judge whether your pay is right for your role.
Pay bands work differently. In the public sector and many larger organisations, each role has a published or internal band with a minimum, a midpoint and a maximum. If you have been doing the job well for several years and are still at the bottom of your band, that is worth asking about directly.
Adjusting for region, tenure and hours
A fair comparison matches your situation on three things:
- Region. Pay for the same role often differs between the main centres and the regions. Compare with ads and offers in your area, or for remote roles open to your area.
- Tenure and level. Someone five years into a role is usually paid more than someone in their first year. Compare with roles that ask for your experience, not entry-level ads.
- Hours. Convert everything to an hourly or full-time equivalent before comparing. A 37.5-hour week at $80,000 pays more per hour than a 40-hour week at the same salary.
After those adjustments, a gap of a few percent is normal variation. A gap of more than about 10%, across several comparisons, is worth acting on.
Inflation and your real pay
Even if you were paid fairly when you started, your pay may have fallen behind since. What matters is whether your pay has kept up with prices, which Stats NZ measures through the consumers price index.
The latest price figures are in New Zealand work in numbers. The check is simple. Take the percentage your pay has risen since your last real increase, and compare it with how much prices have risen over the same period. If prices rose 8% and your pay rose 3%, your real pay has fallen by about 5%, even though the number on your payslip went up. The median itself rose from $42,580 in the year ended 31 March 2019 to $61,958 in the year ended 31 March 2026, before allowing for prices, which is a reminder that pay across the country does move.
Your Career does this sum for you: it keeps your pay history, shows what your pay is worth after prices, and plans your pay review six weeks ahead.
Turning the gap into a pay case or a move
Once you have the evidence, you have two options, and they are not exclusive. The first is a pay case with your current employer: the market evidence, your record of what you have delivered, and a specific figure. Our guide to asking for a pay rise in New Zealand sets out how to build and present it.
The second is to test the market. Applying for a few roles tells you quickly what employers will actually pay you now, and an offer is strong evidence in any pay conversation. When an offer arrives, the Negotiation Coach, part of On the Move, turns your evidence and the real offer into the words for the phone call and the email that follows.
One exception: pay below the minimum wage, unpaid hours or missing holiday pay is a legal matter for Employment New Zealand rather than a market gap.
Whichever you choose, keep a record as you go: your pay history, each piece of market evidence, and what you achieved in the role. That record is what makes the next conversation short and specific.
Build the case while you work
Your Career keeps your pay against prices, your wins as they happen and a pay review planned ahead, so the evidence is ready when you need it; create an account and choose Your Career, and the first 7 days are free, with nothing charged if you cancel before then. If you would rather look around first, the demo opens with no account.
Create your accountA card is needed to start the trial, and there is one free trial per person and per card.
Sources
- Inland Revenue: wage and salary distributions for individuals, year ended 31 March 2026 (via jobtracker.co.nz/stats/pay, checked 31 August 2026).
- NZ Herald, 12 November 2023: Seek NZ on the share of its ads that show a salary.
- Employment New Zealand: new protections for employees discussing pay.
- Stats NZ: consumers price index, for comparing pay with prices.