The eastern coastal city of Ningbo is one of the largest in China and a major economic 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 Ningbo 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.
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Average Salary in Ningbo: Government Data
Ningbo Statistics Bureau
In June 2024, Ningbo’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: ¥133,967 RMB ($18,928 USD)
Average monthly income: ¥11,163 RMB ($1,577 USD)
Private Jobs
Average annual income: ¥77,550 RMB ($10,957 USD)
Average monthly income: ¥6,462 RMB ($913 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 Ningbo: Local HR Data
Ningbo 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.
Ningbo came in at the #8 spot with an average monthly salary of ¥10,722 RMB ($1,514 USD)/month. Ningbo’s median salary here is ¥9,001 RMB ($1,271 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 8 cities (including Ningbo) all exceeded ¥9,000 RMB ($1,271 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.
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