The southern city of Dongguan is one of the largest in China and a major manufacturing and tech hub.
Today we’re breaking down multiple sources of public, local data to see what the average salary level really is in this megacity.
So let’s get to it! A dive into some 2024 Dongguan salary data…
💡 Why not use data from international sources, you ask? When it comes to salary figures in China, we’ve found a big discrepancy in the data provided by most outlets.
Hiring in China?
Post open roles across China’s top job sites, classifieds, and networking platforms — lower hiring costs by over 80%.
Average Salary in Dongguan: Government Data
Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Statistics
In June 2024, Dongguan’s Statistics Bureau[1] released its most recent data on salaries. The figures represent wage data collected throughout 2023.
They specifically split up the data into private and non-private categories.
Non-Private Jobs
Average annual income: ¥98,172 RMB ($13,870 USD)
Average monthly income: ¥8,181 RMB ($1,155 USD)
Private Jobs
Average annual income: ¥80,574 RMB ($11,384 USD)
Average monthly income: ¥6,714 RMB ($948 USD)
Data considerations
The report also specifies what exactly the term ‘total wages‘ means here:
Total wages refer to the total amount of labor remuneration directly paid to employees of the unit during the reporting period (quarter or year). It includes time wages, piece wages, bonuses, allowances and subsidies, overtime wages, and wages paid under special circumstances.
The total wage is the pre-tax wage, including personal income tax, social insurance funds, housing provident fund and other personal contributions.
On private vs non-private categories:
Private legal entities specifically include: private limited liability companies, private joint stock companies, sole proprietorships and partnerships among domestic enterprises.
Non-private legal entities in urban areas specifically include: domestic-funded (including government agencies and public institutions) units other than private units, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan-invested enterprises, and foreign-invested enterprises.
The data collection method seems to be a self-reported survey, likely required for submission by legal entities (as this is a government bureau after all):
A comprehensive survey method is adopted for legal entities that use one set of forms, and a sampling survey method is adopted for legal entities that do not use one set of forms.
Average Salary in Dongguan: Local HR Data
Dongguan Salary Data (Zhilian Zhaopin)
Local HR giant Zhaopin regularly releases salary data for cities across China. The above photo shows the top 38 cities’ average and median salary levels in Q2 2024.
Dongguan came in at the #12 spot with an average monthly salary of ¥10,235 RMB ($1,446 USD)/month. Dongguan’s median salary here is ¥8,501 RMB ($1,208 USD)/month.
Compared to Other Top Cities
Shanghai took the first spot with an average monthly salary of ¥13,732 RMB ($1,933 USD)/month.
Beijing ranked second with an average monthly salary of ¥13,351 RMB ($1,874 USD)/month.
Shenzhen comes in at the #3 spot with an average monthly salary of ¥12,799 RMB ($1,796 USD)/month.
Hangzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Suzhou, and Ningbo round out the top 8.
We also have median salary data here and can see the median of the top 3 cities – Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen – all exceeded ¥10,000 RMB ($1,393 USD)/month.
The median of the top 19 cities (including Dongguan) all exceeded ¥8,000 RMB ($1,137 USD)/month
It’s also interesting to note that there is a 59% difference in the median salary between the first (Shanghai) and last (Harbin) cities on this list.
Related Resources:
Hiring in China?
We can help, and likely lower your hiring costs by over 80%
We've been recruiting in China since 2014!
Our China Candidate Sourcing Service helps companies post & promote open roles across top Chinese jobs & networking platforms.
Let’s find your next great China-based team member together.
Contact us to discuss hiring goals, salary & compensation budgets, and if TeamedUp China is the right fit to support your organization.
New here? Get 25% off your first job post with us.
